MR. MUNRO FERGUSON&c.) (Leith,I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether it is a fact that there were 14 funerals on board the Malabar troopship during her last home voyage; 688 that she carried 200 invalids at starting, and 300 by the time she reached Malta; and whether the numbers on board were in excess of Admiralty Regulations?
§ *LORD G. HAMILTONFourteen deaths did occur on board the Malabar during her last homeward voyage. Excluding officers and ladies, 644 invalids were embarked, but the term "invalid" includes not only men in the last stages of organic disease, but also those who have ailments which render them unfit for service only, and who are otherwise in health. The numbers embarked were not in excess of those allowed by the Regulations, but the number of invalids embarked is settled by the Military Medical Authorities at Bombay, who alone would be in a position to decide upon the proportion of sick that it would be safe to embark at one time.