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Appendix No. 4.
MAURITIUS.
Sir,
106
Inclosure 4 in No. 32.
Colonial Office to War Office.
Downing Street, January 10, 1880. WITH reference to the letter from this Department of the 25th September last, I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to transmit, to be laid before the Secretary of State for War, a further despatch from the Governor of Mauritius respecting the garrison and military defences of that Colony.
Sir Michael Hicks Beach would propose to Colonel Stanley that this, and Sir George Bowen's former despatch, which formed an Inclosure to the letter above referred to, should be laid before the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce abroad; and I am to request to be favoured with the opinion of the Secretary of State for War, whether the question of the extension of the telegraph to Mauritius should, on military grounds, be again brought before the Lords Commis- sioners of the Treasury.
Inclosure 5 in No. 32.
I am, &c.
(Signed)
JOHN BRAMSTON.
Sir G. Bowen to Sir M. Hicks Beach,
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Sir,
Government House, Mauritius, August 17, 1879. WITH my despatch of the 22nd April ultimo I had the honour to transmit a copy of a letter addressed to me by Major-General Murray, C.B., commanding Her Majesty's troops in Mauritius, in which he gave his opinion that the permanent garrison of this island should not consist of less than one battery of the Royal Artillery, and one weak battalion of the line on the peace establishment of 500 men, or thereabouts, ie., of about 750 men of all arms.
2. For some years past, however, the garrison has not exceeded about 500 men of all arms, i.e., one battery of the Royal Artillery, and one wing, or four companies of a battalion of the
line.
3. One battery of artillery is, of course, indispensable in the Imperial fortresses which defend Port Louis from foreign attack. I am informed, moreover, that my predecessor, Sir Arthur Phayre, after his long experience in India, was of opinion that not less than a wing, or half of a battalion of the line, is required for the internal safety of this community, looking to the mere handful of whites (English and French) that represent the property and education of this Colony, and to the character and position of the overwhelming coloured population of Indian, African, Chinese, and Arab origin; looking also to the fact that only about one-sixth of the police force is composed of Europeans, the remaining five-sixths being composed of coloured men, chiefly Indians.
4. If the arrangement of the last few years is to be maintained, I would venture to submit that there is a strong feeling here that the wing of the regiment stationed at Mauritius should be the head- quarters' wing, to which is attached the regimental band. It has often been urged upon my attention since my arrival in this Colony, that probably, for some years to come, the head-quarters of several regiments will be stationed in South Africa, and that the presence of a military band is of considerable political and social importance in Mauritius, for, in former years, when there were two or three regiments in this island, the bands used frequently to play in public, and formed a common attraction alike to the English and to the French element in society, which elements were thus brought together constantly to an extent no longer possible.
5. Submitting the above remarks for your favourable consideration, I have, &c.
t
No. 33.
(Signed)
G. F. BOWEN.
i
t
T
(
Sir,
Colonial Office to Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad.
Downing Street, March 3, 1880.
WITH reference to the letters from this Department of the 19th January and 14th February last,* I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to transmit to you, to be laid before the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad, a copy of a despatch from the Governor of Mauritius, with reference to the proposed extension of the telegraph to that Colony. I am also to inclose copies of the previous despatches noted in the margin,f having reference to the question of telegraphic communication with Mauritius.
I am, &c. (Signed)
R. H. MEADE.
I
(
t
1
* No. 32.
† December 8, October 31, and September 8, 1879 (Inclosures 3, 4, and 6).
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