On one occasion during his command the cadets took it into their heads to protest against having the meat left from the previous day served up as hashes, etc., for breakfast; and as there was some little agitation among them, it was brought to the captain's notice. The cadet captains were accordingly mustered, and invited to state their grievance. The captain heard them patiently, and then, to their delight, he replied, "You are quite right, boys, it shall be stopped." The boys, thinking they had scored completely, chorused, "Thank you, sir!" until the captain added grimly, "But you will have nothing in its place!" As they knew perfectly well that he would not swerve from his decision, they retired crestfallen, and put up with the hashes, which probably did them no harm. Another incident had rather an unexpected result. On a wet and cheerless holiday in the spring of 1867, going on shore being out of the question, the boys were skylarking about the decks, rather at a loose end, and some of the bigger cadets began to amuse themselves by a form of bullying, joining hands and rushing the smaller boys along the deck with considerable violence, regardless of possible serious injury from falls, etc. This amusement being carried to rather cruel extremes, the officer of the day thought it right to call the attention of the commander to it, who in turn reported it to the captain. Possibly the captain may have been aware of some previous cases of bullying, and determined to make an example of the offenders; however this may be, he resorted to drastic measures on the spot. The cadets were called to divisions, and the culprits, four or five in number, received then and there a good birching. There is the authority of a naval instructor who was then in the ship for the statement that bullying was very promptly stopped by this proceeding; but apparently it was resented by the friends of some of the cadets, an agitation in Parliament was organised, and in July of that year Mr. Corry, the First Lord of the Admiralty, was interrogated by Mr. Bass on the subject. On July 25th the matter was dealt with in the House as follows (reported in the _Times_ of July 26th):-- "Mr. Bass asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he had made further inquiry respecting the mode of punishment of cadets on board the _Britannia_. It was alleged from a great many quarters that excessive cruelty was practised on board that ship; and it was stated by gentlemen acquainted with the practice, and who had given their names, that when a cadet was punished his legs and arms were tied to ringbolts so that he could not move, and that he was flogged with a birch broom which had been previously steeped in water to make it more pliant; that fifteen cuts were inflicted with it on the back, and that the doctors invariably attended. He wished to know whether the First Lord had made further inquiries on the matter, and if he retained the opinion he formerly expressed.