§ CAPTAIN NORTONI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War if he can state whether, at the beginning of the South African War, several ships containing large numbers of horses were sent out without a veterinary surgeon on board; and what was the result of this course; and whether any steps have been taken to provide each horse transport ship with a veterinary surgeon.
*MR. J. POWELL-WILLIAMS (for Mr. WYNDHAM)Eleven ships containing horses were despatched before the 16th November, without veterinary surgeons; the numbers of horses on board were not large and a specially selected farrier quartermaster-sergeant or sergeant farrier 26 was sent on each vessel. The percentage of deaths on board, excluding the "Ismore," which sank, was 4.54. Since the 16th November a veterinary surgeon has been placed on each horse transport leaving the United Kingdom with regular units or remounts.