FILITT
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference --
C.O.
885
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
the conveyance of large numbers of people on a long voyage, it is much better to secure, if possible, vessels which are not of less height than six feet four inches from deek to deck, or five feet six inches from deck to beam.
8. The ship should be well cleansed: the between decks and the under part of the upper deck and beams must be either white- washed or painted white,
9. No gunpowder is to be on board on freight
10. The condition of the boats required under the 13th clause
of the Passengers' Act should be particularly looked to.
11. The ship should also be seen to be properly manned.
12. The decks should not be allowed to be lumbered, but required to be kept duly clear for the working of the ship and the exercise of the people. All provisions are to be stowed under hatches, and only sufficient water for immediate use is to be allowed on deck,
Surgeon.
13. Whatever may be the number of the passengers, there must be on board the vessel, a Surgeon, and a proper supply of medicines, instruments and other requisites for the Surgeon's use.
1. The Surgeon should examine the emigrants before em- barkation, to see that they have no infectious disorder of a ́dan- gerous character.
15. This officer will be considered to have the principal charge of the emigrants during the voyage. It will be his duty to endeavour to enforce regularity of habits, cleanliness and good order. It is also important both to the health and the discipline of the people to keep up their spirits, and to promote any harmless diversions, such as dancing and singing, which may contribute to
this end.
16. Some copies are transmitted herewith of the Instructions usually issued to Surgeons on board of Government vessels carry- ing European emigrants. Although many of their details must be inapplicable to the present case, they may serve to show the spirit in which it has been considered that large budies of people ought to be managed. It would seem desirable either to supply each Surgeon in the Indian vessels with a copy of these Instruc- tions, or else to embody such parts of them, as seem applicable to the service, in their own Instructions.
17. In consideration of performing the above duties, the Surgeon may be styled the Government Surgeon Superintendent of the vessel. His pay will not be chargeable to the public but to the vessel, of which it will be deemed an essential requisite that she should have a properly qualified Surgeon; but in case of his performing the service entirely to the satisfaction of the Governor of the colony to which the emigrants are taken, he will be allowed a gratuity of half a dollar a-head on every emigrant, whether adult or child, landed alive.
Arrangements for the Voyage.
IS. The emigrants are to be conveyed in strict conformity with the terms of the Imperial Passengers' Act, as applicable to colonial voyages.
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19. It must be borne in mind that the number of passengers admissible is limited by the size of the deck on which they live, as well as by the tonnage; and that on a voyage of the computed length of that to the West Indies, the whole mumber of passengers is not to exceed the proportion of one adult for every fifteen super ficial feet of the deck.
20. The length of the voyage to any of the West India Colonies is to be assumed at twenty weeks from Calcutta and Bombay, and nineteen from Madras. This is the period for which a sufficient supply of provisions is to be on board; although it is hoped the passage will usually be much shorter.
21. The allowance of provisions to be made under the Passen- gers' Act, will be declared by the Governor at the place of departure,
22. The quality of the water is one of the most important circumstances to the health of the passengers. It should be laid in of the purest description that can be obtained; and great atten- tion should be paid to the sweetness and sufficient strength of the casks in which it is carried: if new, they should be charred. The casks should be constructed of staves of at least one inch in thickness for the ground tier, and of not less than three-quarters of an inch for the remainder.
23. There should be a proper cooking apparatus, and a rea- sonable supply of mess utensils,-whether belonging to the passengers, or provided for them,-suitable to the habits of the people.
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24. The emigrants must be possessed of a proper supply of warm clothing to protect them from the cold, in doubling the Cape of Good Hope.
Engagement of Shipping.
25. When the Emigration Agent can reckon on a sufficient number of emigrants, and the proper season for despatching them has arrived, or is at hand, he will advertize for tenders of shipping. This he will do under the regulations usual for in- suring fairness of competition, adding the ordinary proviso, that he does not bind himself to take the lowest tender. He will mention, in the advertisement, at what place parties may see lists of the provisions, and of all the other requisites for the vessel. in which he will include, as above explained, the services of a well-qualified Surgeon belonging to the ship. He will require the tenders to be made at a certain rate per adult to be paid on each emigrant landed alive in the colony, reckoning two children between one and fourteen as equal to one adult, according to the provisions of the Passengers' Act.
26. The charter-party will include the various conditions necessary for the proper conveyance of the people under these Regulations, and will set forth that the passengers are to be subjected to no unfair or bad usage during the voyage.
27. It is to be a condition of payment, that the Agent-General for Emigration, or other officer appointed for the purpose at the place of arrival, be satisfied that the provisions of the Passengers Act and terms of the charter-party have been fully and fairly complied with, -in default of which such deduction may be made from the payment of passage-money, by way of mulet, as to the Governor may seem just and proper.
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28. It is proposed to be a condition of payment, that the master produces the certificate of approval mentioned hereafter at paragraph 12.
29. The Emigration Agent will avoid calling for tenders for large quantities of shipping at once, which would raise the market, but will advertise for the vessels successively according to his arrangements for bringing the emigrants to the port of embarkation.
30. In examining the tenders, it is proposed with the sanction of Governor-General, that the Emigration Agent should associate with himself the Protector of Emigrants; and the res- pective Governments in India will be requested to point out some officer connected with maritime affairs, to whom, in case of difference of opinion, these functionaries may be able immediately to apply for a casting vote.
31. The terms offered by the parties whose tenders are not accepted should not be divulged by the public officers.
Reports and Correspondence.
32. With each ship, the Agent for Emigration will see that a complete and accurate nominal" list of the passengers on board is transmitted to the West Indies, in pursuance of the directions con- tained in the 17th clause of the Passengers' Act; and he will bear in mind, that strict correctness in this list is of the more importance as it may be the most direct evidence at future periods, to prove the date of arrival of different emigrants.
33. The agent will also forward to the Governor of the West India colony, with each ship, an abstract of the number of emi- grants on board, in the annexed Form (A), accompanied by any general remarks which may appear useful, on the description of the people and the parts of the country from which they were col- lected, or on any circumstance that may require explanation
34. He will from time to time keep the Colonial Government duly informed as to the measures in which he is engaged, and the progress they are making, and especially as to the expectations which may be entertained in the colony, of the time and numbers of the successive arrivals of emigrants.
35. By each overland mail he will transmit similar inform- ation either in the shape of copies of his reports to the Colonial Government, or in such other way as may be most convenient,—in letters addressed to the Commissioners of Colonial Lands and Emi- gration. During the emigration stason he will annex to each of These reports a schedule in the annexed Form (B), of the number despatched since the last report.
36. Accounts should be kept and transmitted to the Colonial Government, in such manner as may have been found most con- venient for the Mauritius. Quarterly abstracts or summaries of those accounts should be sent to England.
37. A return should be forwarded to the Commissioners of Colonial Lands and Emigration, in the Form hereto annexed (C'). shewing the particulars of the vessels offered on each occasion of receiving tenders, together with the decision.
DUTIES SUGGESTED FOR THE PROTECTOR OF
EMIGRANTS.
38. This officer is to be named by the Government at the place where he is to act, and will receive his directions from the same authority. He will doubtless be instructed to co-operate with the Emigration Agent in every way consistent with his own imme- diate duties in promoting the general objects of this service, and in preventing any unnecessary or vexatious delays.
The following Regulations for this Officer have, however, been drawn up for the consideration of the Governor-General as appearing likely to conduce to the satisfactory working of the joint duties of himself and of the Emigration Agent.
39. He is to see that the several requirements of the Pas- sengers' Act and of the foregoing Regulations, so far as regards the quality of the ship and the preparations for the voyage, are fully complied with.
40. He is to inquire into and prevent, as far as is in his power, all irregularity, deception by subordinate agents, or abuse in the collection of emigrants, and in bringing them up from the interior. He is to investigate any complaints on this subject, and to report the cases, if necessary, to the resident Government.
11. He will visit the ship immediately previous to her depar- ture; and in the presence of the Emigration Agent he will ascertain that the emigrants have embarked voluntarily, and that they do not appear to be under any constraint, nor misled by false statements of the nature of their undertaking.
42. He will then affix to the ship's list of emigrants à cer- tificate in the Form hereto annexed (D), showing the number embarked, and recording the facts he has ascertained; without which certificate no payment will be claimable for the emigrants.
43. As the chief responsibility for the proper selection of shipping and the general making of the arrangements for the despatch and safe conveyance of the emigrants will rest on the Emigration Agent, he ought to have the lead in choosing amongst tenders of ships; but in order to relieve him from the burthen of deciding alone upon matters involving large pecuniary interests. it is proposed that the Protector of Emigrants should sit with him on occasions of opening tenders; and the Government will be requested to provide, as mentioned in paragraph 30, for obtaining a casting vote in case of necessity.