CORRESPOiNDENCE RESPECTING EMIGRATION. 35 35 Ship Charles Kerr, of 463 tons register. First class Second ditto Third ditto Fourth ditto Fifth ditto 156 Total - - - _ 16 - 15 - 12 - 30 - 229 Ship Boadicea, of 430 tons register. First class ------ Second ditto ------ Third ditto ------ Fourth ditto ------ Fifth ditto --_--- 194 22 8 15 26 Total - - - - 265 Ship James Pattison, of 513 tons register. > First class - Second ditto Third ditto Fourth ditto ------ Fifth ditto 288 8 8 5 8 Total - - - - 317 Grand Total in 1835 - 809 - 64 - 44 - 55 - 78 - 1,050 No. 1. NEW SOUTH WALES. Extract Letter from Edw. Foster, Esq. to R. W. Hay, Esq. 5 Dec. 1835. Making in the aggregate of individuals of both sexes sent out in the above named vessels, of the First class - - - - - Second class - - - - Third class - Fourth class _____ Fifth class - - - - - The aggregate average age of the females who proceeded by the three first named ships, and to whom a free passage has been granted, was about 20 years. In the conduct of the responsible work committed to them, the Emigration Committee have been anxiously desirous to effect in the most unexceptionable manner the benevolefit objects which His Majesty's Government had in view, and to realise the just expectation of the colonists of Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales; the most vigilant inquiry into the character and circumstances of each individual applicant for emigration having been insti- tuted, and the most scrupulous care observed in the admission of each case ; and notwith- standing the great difficulties which must always exist, and to which the Committee have on a former occasion adverted at length, they entertain a sanguine hope that the emigrants of the present year, while improving their own condition in life, will largely contribute to the general welfare of the colonies for which they are destined. To the selection of one of the best adapted ships in the Port of London on each occasion, to her proper ventilation, fit- tings, bedding, provisioning, and general equipment, and to all which progressive experience has shown to be conducive to the health, security and comfort of the emigrants, every pos- sible attention has been paid. In the agreement for the hire of each ship a stipulation is made, reserving to the Com- mittee the power of approving or rejecting the master and the principal officers; and the Committee have in every instance required unequivocal testimonials of the moral character and professional competency of each individual officer; they have been more than ordinarily careful in consequence of the complaints transmitted to the Committee by Lieutenant Sampson Marshall, R. N., the superintendent of the emigrants who proceeded last year in the ship David Scott, fully corroborated, as those statements have been, by Mr. Owen, the master of that ship, and some of the most respectable persons who were passengers on board, of the highly culpable conduct of certain of the officers; and they have also felt anxious to adopt any additional regulations calculated to guard against the repetition of such criminality. The Committee in consequence addressed a statement to you some time since; and under the sanction of the Secretary of State, bonds are now required of the master, and of the chief and second mates of every ship engaged by the Committee, in the several penal sums of 200 I., 100/., and bOl., for their moral and correct behaviour during the voyage, and this 76. e 4 bond,