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I had all along suggested the importance of arming a battery on Signal Hill for com- pletely commanding the basin of Esquimalt Harbour, and placing any ship entering there with hostile intent in a "shell trap;" but my recommendation was not adopted or authorized by the Government.
I had also myself, in the various Reports I have made on the defences of these harbours, recommended consistently with their purpose that the guns mounted for the defence of Esquimalt exclusively should be manned by marine artillerymen, and I am happy to know that Rear-Admiral de Horsey had already made the same recommendation to the Lords of the Admiralty.
Lieutenant-Colonel Irwin has been authorized to house all these guns with lumber sheds, to store away the moveable appliances, and a care-taker will be appointed for the duty of general superintendence. I should still be glad if a 1-gun battery were authorized for Signal Hill. I strongly urge and recommend its construction, in which my opinion is supplemented by that of the Rear-Admiral.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
ED. SELBY SMYTH, Lieutenant-General.
The Hon. the Minister of Militia and Defence.
No. 302.
Colonial Office to Colonial Defence Committee.
(Secret and Confidential.) Sir,
Downing Street, August 21, 1878. WITH reference to the Secret and Confidential letter from this Department, of the 19th instant,* I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to transmit to you, for any observations which the Colonial Defence Committee may have to offer, a copy of a despatch which has since been received from the Governor-General of Canada,† inclosing a copy of a Report by Lieutenant-General Sir E. Selby Smyth on the subject of the defences of Esquimalt and Victoria.
&c.
I am,
(Signed)
R. H. MEADE.
No. 303.
Lieutenant-Governor Lees, C.M.G., to the Right Hon. Sir M. E. Hicks Beach, Bart.— (Received August 22.)
(Secret.) Sir,
Government House, Accra, July 9, 1878. REFERRING to your Circular despatch, Secret, of the 20th March, 1878, on the subject of the defence of the defence of the Colony in the event of an outbreak of war, I have the honour to transmit a Report, furnished at the request of Governor Freeling by Captain Stoker, Commanding the troops, with relation to the defence of the settlement on the Gold Coast.
2. I concur generally in the views expressed in this Report. As regards the sugges- tion, however, which Captain Stoker makes for the merchants' stores of spirits being placed in positions of safety, I am advised that without special enactment on the subject the Government has no legal power of compelling the removal of the spirits unless during war and in the event of the settlement being actually threatened, and I fear that even if it possessed such power, the carrying out of a measure of this nature would be attended with very considerable expense. The removal of the gunpowder in the stores (for which there are already statutory powers) would be much less difficult.
3. The channel by which Lagos is approached from the sea is of such nature that the removal of the buoys and landmarks, or the placing of fictitious buoys and prohibiting the pilots to give assistance to foreign war ships, except when directed by the Governor, would materially tend to prevent any hostile ship from coming sufficiently near the town to inflict serious damage. The gunpowder magazine at Lagos is situated nearer the sea than any other building, and it would probably be advisable to have it removed farther inland.
C. C. LEES.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
* No. 298.
+ No. 301.
+ No. 15.
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