GILBERT MOORE, examined by Mr. Mitchell, stated: I am a master mariner in charge of the S.S. _Excelsior_, one of Huddart, Parker & Co’s steamers trading between Melbourne and Geelong. I knew the _Alert_, and was in command of her. For two or three winters I was trading with her to Geelong and back to Melbourne, and sometimes we had heavy weather. She behaved very well indeed. Sometimes in bad weather she would not behave very grand. In moderate, good, and fine weather she was beautiful. I went to Tasmania in her in February, 1893. I had no cargo going over, but coming back I had I daresay about seventy tons. We had fine weather going but a stiff breeze coming back. She behaved well and was a bit wet. I remember the pantry window; it did not affect the ship in any way. It was about eighteen inches above the deck. It was sufficiently secured to withstand the pressure of water. The bunker lids had slots and turned round, thus fixing them in. I saw that they were fastened. I can’t see how the wooden awning or the open grating would make the ship unsea-worthy. It is a matter of opinion. There was a tarpaulin to cover the grating if they liked to put it on. _Q._—What in your opinion should have been done with the vessel before changing her course for the Heads? _A._—I would have put the engines dead slow. As a matter of course a man, in weather like she was in, should have seen that everything was secure. If I had to run the ship, I would keep the engines slow; and if I had a sail, I would set it. If the sea was too heavy and she would not come to the wind, I would let go a sea anchor. Cross-examined by Mr. Smyth: I knew the late Captain Mathieson. He was a careful seaman, and a good ship master. He would be the best judge of what he ought to do. The grating was six feet wide, and fore and aft from eleven to thirteen inches. _Q._—Supposing Mr. Grant, the man who put the grating in, said it was twelve feet across and three feet six inches long? _A._—I know differently; I never measured it, but I say it was not three feet long. _Q._—You looked very particularly before you went to Tasmania to see that the bunker lids were fastened with slots? _A._—Yes, I did. I considered it necessary. They fitted properly and were caught with slots. _Q._—If you were the only witness out of thirty who said these lids did not fit in by their own weight, will you contradict them all? _A._—Yes. _Q._—If Mr. Grant, who fitted them in, states that the lids secured themselves only by their own weight, do you contradict him? _A._—Yes; I say what I know. _Q._—You swore at the Marine Board enquiry that you took the _Alert_ to Tasmania as a trial trip? _A._—I meant to say it was a severe trial to the ship.