§ 3. Mr. MIDDLEMOREasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is prepared to make any statement as to insubordination among the crews of His Majesty's ships "Zealandia," "Newcastle," and "Chatham"?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe report in regard to certain regrettable occurrences on board His Majesty's ship "Zealandia" was only received on Monday, and it is not possible to make any statement on the subject at present. No report of any insubordination on board the "Chatham" has been received. Some case of insubordination occurred amongst the stokers on board the "Newcastle" in December last. Five stokers were punished with sentences of from fourteen to twenty-one days' detention. It was considered by the Commander-in-Chief, China, that the first lieutenant was to blame for his treatment of the stokers as a whole, and he was removed from the "Newcastle." The Board approved of the action of the commander-in-chief.