§ VISCOUNT NEWPORTasked the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether the troopship "Nemesis," which conveyed a portion of the 7th Hussars to the Cape, was inspected and reported favourably upon by an official acting under the orders of the Admiralty before she was chartered by the Government for the conveyance of troops?
§ MR. TREVELYANSir, the information which the noble Viscount asks I gave to the House of Commons in answer to a Question of the 9th of May, and I felt bound then to give it, accompanied by an explanation of some length, because it concerned the reputation of the Transport Department, a Department which has never deserved better of the country than during the operations connected with the recent disturbances in South Africa. I have got a short Report here which I have had prepared for the noble Viscount, and which I will give him privately; but it contains nothing which I have not stated publicly in the House, except that the Nemesis has made her return voyage in such a satisfactory time that there is reason to believe that her behaviour en the way out was mainly due to the bad weather which she encountered. If the noble Viscount wishes, I will read the Report now; but the House is already in possession of the information which it contains.
§ VISCOUNT NEWPORTsaid, that in consequence of this answer he would, on a future day, ask whether it had come to the knowledge of the Admiralty that the troopship Nemesis broke down between this country and the Cape on several occasions, that her boilers were in an unsafe condition, that she ran short of provisions, and that the privations of those on board were so great that the troops had ultimately to be transferred to the Calabria to finish the voyage?