WILLIAM MALONE, examined by Mr. Box, stated: I am a seaman, and belong to the steamer _Dawn_ at present. I was engaged on the _Alert_ last November twelve months. That was four weeks before she foundered. I have been off and on at sea during the past twenty years, and was on the _Alert_ when she went outside the Heads to Bairnsdale. I never thought her a trustworthy boat for going outside. I did not see any very bad weather in her. On one trip there was a stiff breeze, and she did not act very well. With a beam sea she shipped a lot of water. She took the most of the water on board amidships, and about the alleyways. This was between Cape Schanck and Port Phillip Heads, with a fresh, but not a heavy, breeze blowing. The _Alert_ had no mast aft. A boat going outside should have an after mast in case they want to keep her head to wind in a heavy sea. There is no means of getting her head to wind without that. Her coal and engines were in the after part of the ship, and during my time she carried no carpenter. I was not discharged from the _Alert_. I had a word or two with the Captain, and luckily left her the voyage before she was lost. Cross-examined by Mr. Mitchell; _Q._—Did the Captain accuse you of being drunk while in the performance of your duty? _A._—No, nothing of that kind. He could not do that, because I did not have any drink. Some ships will ship more water than others, but in an ordinary strong breeze a vessel should not take water on board. The water taken in by the _Alert_ on the occasion I speak of ran out aft. JOHN LEITH, examined by Mr. Smyth, stated: I am a master mariner. At the present time I am captain of the S. S. _Maitland_. She is engaged in the regular trade between Melbourne, Port Albert, and the Gippsland Lakes. I went to sea in 1857. I was master in 1871, and have been sailing out that way since 1880. Southerly bursters come in that trade pretty nigh any time. Mr. Justice Williams: I wish to goodness you would bring one along now. (Laughter.) (Here it may be stated that during the time this trial was going on, a very hot northerly wind was blowing, making the court as warm as an oven.) The witness continuing, said: I know the _Alert_, and have been down the Bay a number of times in her as a passenger. She was always well down by the stern. She was long and narrow, with no great depth. She had one mast only, and the engines were well aft. She was not fit to be in a gale of wind, and gales do come along in Bass Straits.