JAMES ALEXANDER MITCHELL, examined by Mr. Purves, stated: I am a licensed Port Phillip pilot, and have been such close on twelve years. Prior to that I was master of steamers and sailing vessels for eleven years. I knew the _Alert_, and remember the day she foundered, December 28, 1893. It was reported to me on that date. I was in charge on that day of the pilot schooner _Rip_. At about 4 o’clock P. M. I was cruising, as near as I could judge, from seven to eight miles outside Port Phillip Heads. We were cruising about in all directions. The weather was very thick. We never saw the land. All along the eastern shore as far as the Barwon the weather was thick. It was clearer to seawards and towards the west. It was blowing what we call a southerly gale. The sea was very rough and very high. I cannot remember what the barometer was. It was heavy weather as a matter of fact. There was a cross sea from the south-east, and a swell from the south-west, and the two met and sent the water up. Our vessel was shipping a good deal of heavy spray. I have seen the _Alert_ at a distance, when she was passing Williamstown going to Geelong. _Q._—After the _Alert_ got off the Schanck, about seven miles, with the wind and sea as they were, was it, in your opinion, a prudent thing to do to keep the ship away for the Heads? _A._—I should say there would be danger in that manœuvre unless they—as sailors would say—watched a slant, or watched for a smooth, and then put her on her course. Before doing this, it would be only an ordinary precaution to make everything snug. _Q._—Your idea was that the heaviest weather was off the Schanck? _A._—Yes, and off the Heads. Cross-examined by Mr. Williams: We boarded some ships on that day (Dec. 28). There was no particular trouble in boarding them. The same care had to be exercised that day as in every other gale. As pilot in charge I do not think that I would have boarded a vessel between three and five that afternoon. I did not know Captain Mathieson personally. I cannot say whether he got a slant. I gave my opinion on a supposed case. For all I know he may have waited for a slant. _Q._—Assuming that there was a south-east gale blowing all day, and the _Alert_ in it, in your opinion if things had not been snug on the ship would anything have happened to her? _A._—I should hardly have thought that in a gale of wind, blowing all day long, she would have got as far as the Schanck if things had not been snug. She would have been full of water before. _Q._—What sort of gale was it in the early part of the day? _A._—It started with a fresh breeze in the early morning and gradually increased to a moderate gale from 10 o’clock till noon. After twelve it had some indication of getting finer and the barometer rose. Then the wind veered to the south-west and blew hard. A swell had been coming from the south-west all day long.