postal route, we may wait long enough; but if the Panama route would not be of the "slightest benefit to Victoria, Tasmania, or South Australia," what benefit is the Suez route to New South Wales, Queensland, and New Zealand? I therefore ask your committee, Sir, to hear our evidence, and, after hearing it, to decide for us, as to whether the Imperial Government should or should not support the Panama route. I am quite sure your committee will not only be unanimous, but that you will add a rider to it, strongly urging the Government to take immediate action.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

WALTER BRODIE,

Late Member House of Representatives, New Zealand.

SIR,-I regret there should have been any misunderstanding as to the objects of the Postal Packet Contract Committee; but the reference to them is very precise and does not admit of their reporting on the merits of different routes; and we have already in more than one instance declined to take witnesses who proposed to give specific evidence as to the advantages of particular routes. I regret very much the disappointment which this course may create; but if you will read the terms of our appointment you will, I think, acknowledge that no other course is open

to us.

WALTER BRODIE, Esq.,

Yours, very faithfully,

A. MURRY DUNLOP.

15, Delamere Terrace, April 24th, 1860.

CHOICE OF SHIP.-A recent writer of experience speaking on this subject, says: "Avoid cheap ships-ships chartered by cheap brokers and agents-those who, by tempting baits, tout

for passengers at half fares. The hook will be found, to the sorrow of those who take it, the only reality attached to the offer. Of my own knowledge I can aver that a second-class passenger in a ship owned by a first-class firm is better accommodated, better fed, and better attended to, than a first-class passenger in a second-class ship. The charges for accommodation, &c., in these vessels, like those in first and second-class hotels, will, of course, be found somewhat higher in the one than in the other; but the difference in this respect is by no means in proportion to the comfort and convenience obtainable in the one over the filth and misery to be found in the other. In the one, in the cabin and at the head of the table, we have an agreeable and intelligent commander; each meal served by competent stewards, and in a manner that would not disgrace a first-class hotel. In the other, at the cabin and at the head of the table, we have a coarse ill-bred skipper, with everything else in keeping with him. The chief repast is served by dirty cuddy boys, and the meal itself is composed of messes which, both with regard to the cooking and the matter, would disgrace a shilling ordinary. Again, in the one there will be order and attention during the week, and a proper mark of respect to distinguish the seventh from other days; in the other, all will be confusion and riot, while little or no regard will be paid either to persons, days, or things. Indeed, were the reader suddenly to shift his quarters from a west-end club-house to an east-end pot-house, the contrast produced by the change would not be greater or more striking than that presented by these ships. The lowest in price is not always the cheapest article, although necessity may compel its selection; but where a purchaser has the power of choice, he will do well either with regard to ships or outfit -to consider the value as well as the price of an article. Those who have never made a long sea voyage have little idea of the good things, besides fresh air, that are to be found on board a liberally-provisioned, ably-commanded, and well-conducted ship. The mere recital of our usual dinner fare on board the 'Windsor,' by which I made a delightful passage from Sydney to London, may enlighten my readers a little on the subject. Our first course was mock turtle, ox tail, or other excellent soup, alternated by preserved salmon. The second,

U

fowls or ducks, or occasionally a turkey, goose, or sucking pig, with sundry joints of roast and boiled (fresh) meat. The third consisted of a variety of puddings, tarts, &c., which for quality could not be surpassed anywhere. And lastly, we had cheese, followed by a good dessert."-New Zealand, by an Englishman.

To show that New Zealand passengers may live as luxuriously as Australian, I will now present the reader with a fair average of our daily "carte" on board Messrs. Willis's " Joseph Fletcher," the vessel in which I made my last voyage to New Zealand. Macaulay, in his luminous essay on Warren Hastings, says, "Most passengers find some resource in eating twice as many meals as on land." Our Quaker friends hint that the great historian is sometimes at sea in history-be this as it may, he has evidently been at sea in a ship, as the reader will, I think admit, when he sees this programme of our trencher feats on board the " Joseph Fletcher :”

Nine o'clock, BREAKFAST.-Tea and coffee. Hot rolls, or toast, with butter and marmalade. One or two dishes of mutton or pork chops, or a joint of cold meat, and potato fritters. Twelve o'clock, LUNCH.-Ham, tongue, cold beef or mutton, and sardines, with bread, butter, and cheese. Four o'clock, DINNER (party consisting of fourteen).-First course-mock-turtle, or gravy, or pea-soup, with the addition of preserved salmon three days a week. Second course-frequently fowls or ducks, with two joints of fresh meat and vegetables; and a pie, hash, or curry. Third course-puddings, pies, or tarts, butter and cheese; and then a dessert of figs, nuts, almonds, and raisins. Seven o'clock, TEA:-Tea and coffee, hot cakes and toast, with ham, tongue, or cold sliced meat.

It should be observed, however, that owing to the confusion of getting away, and to the dilemmas of the "first week" (see page 298), a ship's table seldom settles down to regular goodness till one gets off Madeira; so that passengers should wait awhile and get out of their querulous, sea-sick state ere they pronounce an opinion as to their cook and commissariat.

ENGAGING PASSAGE, CABINS, AND BERTHS.

291

ENGAGING PASSAGE. It is a common practice, and a good one, for the intending emigrant to run up to town to look at the ship in dock. He should always remember, however, especially if accompanied by wife or daughter, that seeing the finest vessel in dock, taking in cargo, is much the same as seeing her in the repulsive light of a dirty-looking wreck. Her sails unbent, her rigging slack and baggy; her deck lumbered with boats, casks, pitch, and tar; her Irish dock labourers getting themselves and everything around them into inextricable confusion; carpenters sawing, hammering, and bawling with din and racket enough to wake the dead-all combine to make up a scene which, if beheld for the first time on a wet day after a dirty walk to the dirty dock, might well send a nervous man back again to the country thankful that he had escaped with life, and effectually weaned from all desire for any sea-going sort of emigration. Indeed, the difference between a ship in dock, fitting up and taking in cargo, and lying at Gravesend, all a taunto for the voyage, may well be likened to the difference between the filthy grub and the brilliant butterfly.

CABINS AND BERTHS.-Poop cabins are the ships' parlours. All other cabins are temporary erections of certain regulation sizes; but poop cabins are fixed, standing, parts of the vessel; and, as they vary in size, no general price can be published for them, and each is let by special agreement. In New Zealand ships they consist of two stern, and of about eight side cabins: each with its door opening into the saloon, a snug apartment about 40 ft.+ 14. The two stern poop cabins are light and airy little parlour-like places, from 10 to 12 feet square, with large stern windows. These are generally secured early by family emigrants of liberal means; each would accommodate a bachelor party of three, or a married couple with three or four children. For one of these cabins, my brother, with his wife and two young children, had to pay 225 guineas-but they are now much cheaper; and the terms for a stern poop cabin for two adults, would now, I think, be about 1401. The side poop cabins vary in size from 7 to 8 feet square, and each has a side window. The captain and medical man generally occupy two of these cabins. Each would accommodate a married couple, and one, or even two, children. The

present price of one, for a single person, would now, I think, be about 701.; for a couple, sharing it, about 1207.

The chief cabins, lower-deck, are just under the poop cabins. They form a lower story, in fact, reached by low stairs set in the hatchway, an opening in the saloon floor. These cabins have each a small window, and are generally about 6 or 7 feet + 8, and from 7 to 8 feet high.

Adjoining these, on the same deck, but separated by a partition, and having separate hatchway-stairs for ascent to the maindeck (the out of doors), we find the Intermediate or second cabins. These are built up just like the adjoining chief cabins, but with the addition of sleeping berths; and are generally divided into cabins for four (or a family), and into cabins for two. Each generally has its small window, and each its door opening into the common eating-room, where a long dining table is placed with fixed forms and seats.

Adjoining the Intermediate (but still separated by a partition and having separate stairs to the main deck) is the Steerage, fitted up like the Intermediate, but with the addition of a third sort of berth, viz. the open berth in the fore end of the steerage for single men, at prices varying from 167. to 187. Each of these lower-deck compartments is furnished with a separate patent water-closet for females and children.

A person from the country, accustomed to the comparatively spacious rooms of even a comfortable cottage, or snug farm-house, will generally be much surprised, and often a little disgusted, when he comes to see the various lower-deck cabins and berths which the finest passenger ship provides for his accommodation. But he should call to mind that these little dens are well ventilated little places; that they are only to sleep in; and that within a few inches of him, night and day, there is, almost ever, a fine breeze blowing, and a boundless supply of the purest sea air.

As to the hours spent by the various classes of passengers in the various parts of the ship, we may perhaps say that, on the average of the voyage, about eight hours would be passed in the sleeping berth, five in the common saloon or eating-room, and eleven out of doors on deck; and it may be observed that, in most ships, intermediate passengers, who, as a body, are a most respectable class of emigrants, generally associate with chief