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A battery at Mount Palmer (on Singapore Island), which overlooks the new harbour, to mount three 7-inch muzzle-loading rifled guns, and two 64-pounder guns.
These works would have been completed and armed in about two months from this date, but it is probable that their progress will now be delayed, and possibly the plans reconsidered.
Submarine mines and explosive material have arrived from England, and these could, on an emergency, be rapidly placed in position.
All the above are planned and arranged solely for the defence of the new harbour, where all the coal is stored; the submarine mines represent at this present time the sole available defence, and the guns have not arrived from England.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
Vice-Admiral Hillyar, C.B.,
Commander-in-chief, China.
No. 353.
G. R. BOSANQUET,
Captain and Senior Officer.
Admiral Sir A. Milne, Bart., to Colonial Office.
(Secret and Confidential.)
Sir,
I AM desired by the Colonial Defence Committee to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th September,* covering a copy of a despatch from the Governor of Hong Kong, relating to the laying of a telegraph cable between the Colony and Green Island.
Committee Room, Whitehall, November 25, 1878.
Considering that the establishment of telegraphic communication with Green Island was partly intended for defensive purposes, and that the cable is likely to be of use during the construction of the battery on the island, as well as after its completion, the Com- mittee are of opinion that the division of cost proposed by the Governor would be fair, and that half the sum named, viz., 1,275 dollars, might reasonably be charged to the defence funds.
I have, &c.
(Signed) ALEX. MILNE, Admiral, President.
No. 354.
The Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., to the Right Hon. Sir M. E. Hicks Beach, Bart.—
(Received November 26.)
(Secret and Confidential.) Sir,
Government House, Wellington, October 7, 1878.
IN reply to your Confidential despatch of the 15th August, 1878,† I regret to find that through inadvertance my despatch of the 22nd June, in reply to your cypher telegram, was numbered instead of being sent as a Confidential despatch, and I have, according to your directions, now removed it from amongst the public despatches of the Colony.
I shall not, I can assure you, fail to use my best endeavours to induce my Govern- ment to proceed with the defence of the principal ports of the Colony, notwithstanding the fact that any immediate prospect of war has fortunately been averted by the exertions of Her Majesty's Government.
Some communications have already passed between Colonel Scratchley and myself upon the subject, and I think that my Government would be anxious to obtain the services of that officer, whenever the construction of the batteries is decided upon, and I do not believe that any objection would be raised by the Australian Colonies to his being so employed.
I have, however, as yet received no intimation that the guns, &c., have been shipped from England, and the absence of the armament, together with the fact that the Govern- ment are at the present moment fully occupied with their Parliamentary duties, would, I feel confident, render it useless for me to press this matter at the present time, but as soon as the guns arrive I will again bring the subject under their consideration.
* No. 334.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
NORMANBY.
+ No. 287.
‡ No. 272.
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