Q.-You have coarse and fine sugar to stow, which would you take in first?

Q.-Suppose your cargo to consist of saltpetre, sugar, linseed, &c., what precaution would you take, and which would you stow first?

A.-Be particular to keep the different articles separate from each other; stow the saltpetre first.

Q-What do you place over the saltpetre?

A.-Place planks and matting over it.

Q.-If the cargo to be stowed consists of machinery and liquids in casks, where would you stow each?

A.-The machinery amidships, and the casks towards the ends of the vessel.

Q-Where would you stow bullion?

A.-In the bullion room under the cabin deck.

Q.-You are in a steamer which is loading a general cargo for different ports; how would you stow the goods?

A.-Keep the goods intended for the first port uppermost if possible, and so that the ship will be on a trim when they are taken out. Note what hold, and what part of that hold, each merchant's goods are in.

Q.-You are loading grain in bulk.

A.-Do not allow it to come in too fast. Pour it through a canvas hose to prevent dust from arising as much as possible. Watch that the grain does not get under the mats. If necessary trample it well. Be very careful that it is well trimmed under the beams, stringers, and decks.

Q.-How much grain can you take in bulk in New York?

A.-No vessel exceeding 400 tons register can be loaded with grain in bulk. Exceeding 400 tons and not over 500 tons, twothirds in bulk, one-third in bags. Over 500 tons, half in bulk and half in bags.

Q.-You are loading grain in bulk, your ship has 'twixt decks laid, would you have shifting boards below them?

A.-Yes; grain is as liable to shift there as above.

Q.-How would you stow saltpetre?

A.-Raise it on a platform not less than three feet from the skin; take it no farther forward than the foremast, no farther aft than the mizzen-mast; keep the ends of the ship free; after laying the lower tier lay every bag of the second tier so that it

rests on half of each bag below it, and so on with every tier; diminish every tier so that the cargo slopes towards the mainhatch.

Q.-Suppose your cargo were bags of coffee or cocoa, what dunnage will you lay?

A.-Nine inches in the floors, fourteen to the upper part of bilge, and two and a half at sides.

Q.-Suppose the cargo were guano, state what preparations should be made, and what dunnage you would allow?

A.-Dunnage of fifteen to twenty inches, or even as much as two feet, for the purpose of making the cargo more secure and the ship easier in a seaway; or stow it on a platform similar to that used for copper ore; or dunnage well, say, as far up as the keelson; then place, say, two tiers of bags fore-and-aft so as to prevent any air from being drawn through by the suction of the pumps, or the powder or loose guano from finding its way between them. Dunnage the ship's sides not less than three inches, and carry a tier of bags up to the lower beams.

Q. What dunnage do you allow for grain?

A.-Not less than ten inches in the floor and fourteen to fifteen inches at the bilge. When lined, a water course between it and the side.

Q. Where would you commence to mat your ship for a grain cargo ?

A.-Begin in the 'midships, both in floor and sides, and work forward and aft, overlap one-third. Put double mats on the dunnage round the mast casings and pump-well. Single mats on the sides.

Q. What precautions do you take with the pumps when about to take in grain?

A.-Fit them close through the ceiling so that no grain can get to them if an accident happen to the pump-well. Also have a clear trunk way to their bottoms.

Q.-What further precautions would you take with a grain cargo?

A.-Build strong bulkheads to form peaks at the ends of the ship. Fix strong shifting boards, well secured. Have feeders and ventilators. If loading at the United States or Canada the ship must be lined, and loose grain must be stowed in bins, not to contain more than 12000 bushels each.

Q.-When will the new law on the "Carriage of Grain" apply to your ship?

A.-When loading grain in the Black Sea or the Mediterranean and bound outside the Straits of Gibraltar; or if loading grain in the United States or Canada.

Q.-What grain may be carried between the decks?

A. -Between the decks, or, if the ship has more than two decks, between the main and upper decks, only such grain in bulk as may be necessary for feeding the cargo in the hold, and this grain must be carried in properly constructed feeders.

Q.-What rule is laid down for ships that have not properly constructed feeders?

A.-That not less than one-fourth of the grain carried in the hold or compartment (as the case may be) shall be in bags, supported on suitable platforms laid upon the grain in bulk.

Q.-There are certain exceptions to this. State them.
A.-1. To oats or cotton seed.

2. To sailing ships of less than 400 tons register tonnage, if not engaged in the Atlantic trade.

3. To a ship in the Mediterranean or Black Sea, if the ship is divided into compartments by substantial transverse partitions, and is fitted with longitudinal bulkheads, or proper shifting boards, and if she does not carry more than 1500 quarters in any one compartment or division, and that each division of the lower hold is fitted with properly constructed feeders from the 'tween decks.

4. If the grain is only one-half of the whole cargo, the rest being cotton, wool, &c., or other suitable cargo, so stowed as to prevent the grain shifting.

Q.-Must shifting boards be used?

A. Yes, whether the grain is in bulk or bags, unless you have a properly constructed longitudinal bulkhead.

Q.-Where are those shifting boards to be placed?

A.-From deck to deck, or from the deck to the keelson, foreand-aft, and must be properly secured; and if the grain is in bulk, must be fitted grain-tight, with proper fittings between the beams.

Q.—What kind of boards should they be?
A.-Three-inch deals.

Q.-How are these shifting boards secured?

A.-Some ships have single stanchions, with a hook for the boards to fit into; but in most cases the stanchions are double, and the boards between them.

Q. What are the three things to be seen to in loading grain? A. That it is properly stowed, trimmed, and secured.

Q.-Having discharged all your cargo, proceed to clear up and make ready for a general cargo.

A.-Sling spars to the stanchions, and stow the dunnage wood upon them, then sweep up.

Q.-Suppose you are in a foreign port, and you have to commence to take in your return cargo, what precautions will you take?

A. To make sure that the limbers are clear.

Q.-What is meant by baulking a ship?

A.-Keeping the ends free from cargo.

Q.-What proportion of a ship's cargo ought to be in the lower hold?

Q.-How many tarpaulins are you required to cover the hatches with?

A.-Not less than two.

Q.-Who is responsible for the stowage of the cargo?
A.-The master.

Q.-How do you know when your ship is loaded deep enough? A.-A vessel bound over-sea should never be loaded beyond that point of immersion which will give her a clear side out of the water of three inches to every foot in the depth of the hold.

Q.-How would you mark the deep-sea line?

A.-The deep-sea lead is marked in the same manner up to twenty fathoms, after which there is a piece of cord with an additional knot for each ten fathoms, and leather for every five.

Q.-What is the distinction between the mark at two fathoms and that at three fathoms ?

A.-At two fathoms the leather is put in the strand at half way, thus forming two tails; at three fathoms it is put in the same way, but one tail is slit, thus forming three tails.

Q.-In a dark winter's night, and your hands so benumbed with cold that you cannot distinguish the marks by the touch, what would you do?

A.-Put it to my lips, and if the white be a bit of canvas, the red a bit of bunting, and the blue a bit of cloth, the distinction will thus be apparent.

If the depth of water alongside corresponds with any mark, the leadsman calls by the mark 5 or 7, &c.; if he judges that the depth corresponds with a deep by the deep 8 or 9, &c.; if or a fathom more than a mark or deep, and a quarter 7 or 8, &c., or and a half 7 or 8, if a of a fathom less, a quarter less 7 or 8, &c.

Q.-How is the nature of the ground ascertained?

A.-By the tallow in the hollow bottom of the lead; the lead is said to be armed when the tallow is placed in the hollow.

Q.-How would you proceed to get soundings with a deep sea lead line?

A.-Carry the lead line forward on the weather side outside of everything, from the quarter to about the fore rigging, when it is bent to the lead. Station the men along the sides, each with a coil in his hand, the quantity of line to be hauled off the reel and passed forward depends upon the supposed depth of water. Stop the ship's way by reducing sail and rounding-to, or, if a steamer, ease the engines to dead slow, and when she loses her way stop her propeller. When the vessel's way has quite stopped, call out "Heave," when the lead is hove overboard forward, and as each man attending the line feels it tauten, and is sure the lead has not reached the bottom, he flings his coil overboard, passing the word to the next man aft by saying, "Watch, there, watch." If it has not reached the bottom before, the sounding is taken by the officer stationed on the weather quarter, with the line as nearly up and down as possible.

(It must be borne in mind, in all cases, that to get a correct cast of the lead a steamer must be brought head to wind and sea. In stormy weather it is also an important matter that the lead should be primed (even supposing that the nature of the bottom is not required), since by examining the arming when the lead is brought on board it can at once be seen if it has touched the bottom; presuming, of course, that there is doubt on the matter. If you want a cast of the lead in deep water, say from 90 to 100 fathoms, and it is blowing hard, with a heavy sea running, it is a difficulty sometimes not easily got over, especially with a steamer in ballast. Thus, say the lead line is