2i8 Horses on Board Ship. 



ance of these animals to South African 

 ports. For instance, the ss. Mohawk was 

 chartered to carry animals from New Orleans 

 at about ^25 a head. A large proportion 

 of these ships which were hurriedly taken 

 up were unfit for their purpose, and they 

 arrived in South Africa with horses and 

 mules packed like herrings in a barrel, and 

 stowed away in all sorts of places, even on 

 bridge decks and in coal bunkers, as I have 

 seen. The first consignments were 25 or 30 

 per cent, more than the respective steamers 

 could properly accommodate. The fittings 

 were often disgracefully bad, and were con- 

 structed from the cheapest materials. The 

 contracts for steamers taken up only for the 

 voyage to South African ports, were far 

 more costly to Government than ships on a 



