LORD BURGHLEYsaid, he wished to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council, By whose authority the German Ship Hertha, with Emigrants for New York, was removed, on the 23rd of January last, from Spithead to the Motherbank, in consequence of an epidemic sickness existing among the Emi- 1770 grants; what is the nature of that epidemic, and what became of the bodies of those who died while the ship was lying at the Motherbank; whether it is true that upwards of fourteen deaths occurred at the Motherbank, and upwards of forty on the passage from Bremen to Spithead; what is the tonnage of the Hertha, the number of passengers and crew, and if there was a medical officer on board; how many invalids were left in the Quarantine Hulk after the departure of the Hertha; and whether the Government will, in consequence of the greatly increased population of the town of Ryde and of the adjoining village of Binstead, in addition to the number of houses lately built on the Isle of Wight shore opposite to the Hulk, give orders for the removal of the Quarantine Hulk more to the westward, to Newtown, or to some other place where there is no large amount of resident population?
MR. H. A. BRUCESir, the Hertha was chartered by the New York and Hamburg Steam Shipping Company. She sailed from Hamburg with a large number of German emigrants. When she was lying at Spithead, it was found that some of the passengers were suffering from epidemic sickness. Mr. Baker, who is Russian Vice Consul at Portsmouth, and agent to the above-named Company, after consultation with the Admiral Superintendent of the dockyard at Portsmouth, ordered the Hertha to be removed from Spithead to the Motherbank, in order that she might have a quieter berth. The epidemics under which the passengers were suffering were small pox (of which none died), diphtheria, and typhus. The bodies of those that died were sown up in new canvas, with iron bars attached, and were buried at a red buoy on the Mother-bank, in six fathoms of water (dead low water, spring tides). This red buoy is about one mile and three-quarters from the shore, and about two miles from Ryde Pier. Thirteen deaths from diphtheria (all young children) and one from typhus occurred at the Motherbank; it is not known how many died on the passage from Bremen to Spithead. It is believed about thirty. The tonnage of the Hertha is 870 tons. The number of her passengers and crew, 270. There was a surgeon on board, who was assisted by another medical man from Portsmouth. Seven invalids and twenty-one members of their families were left in the quarantine hulk after the 1771 departure of the Hertha. The Government are advised that the present position of the quarantine hulk is the best that can be found. It is one mile and three-quarters from the shore, in a well sheltered situation with good anchorage; the prevalent winds are south and south-west, which would oppose infection reaching the Isle of Wight. He would undertake that careful inquiries should be made, but he could not hold out any hope of the anchorage of the hulk being changed.