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Appendix No. 4.
MAURITIUS.
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My Lord,
114
Inclosure 1 in No. 42.
Sir G. Bowen to the Earl of Kimberley.
Government House, Mauritius, September 5, 1880.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's despatch, Circular, of the 23rd June ultimo,* in which you acquaint me that the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad wish to be informed of the views entertained by the Governments of the Colonies upon the following, among other points
(1.) The defence of ports and their armaments.
(2.) The raising and maintaining of local forces. (3.) Naval defence.
2. In my despatches noted in the margint (and of which I would solicit perusal by your Lordship), I stated the views held by myself, and by the Executive Council, upon the naval and military defence of Mauritius. In his despatch, marked General, of the 14th February ultimo, your predecessor, Sir Michael Hicks Beach, informed me that these despatches have already been communicated to the Royal Commission.
3. I would remark that my recommendations, with regard to the naval defence of Mauritius, and of British commerce in this quarter of the globe, has since received strong confirmation from the circumstances reported in my subsequent despatches of the 21st April ultimo, and of the 1st May ultimo. Perhaps these despatches also will be laid before the Royal Commission.
4. I would take this opportunity of soliciting your Lordship's attention to my despatch of the 31st March ultimo,|| addressed to your predecessor, but to which I have not as yet received any reply. I therein recommended the acceptance of the offer of service by a corps of rifle volunteers in this Colony.
5. I believe that the information supplied in my despatches, referred to above, and in the valuable "précis of information concerning Mauritius prepared for the Intelligence Branch of the Quarter- Master General's Department at the War Office," of which twenty copies were forwarded to the Colonial Office by my predecessor, Sir Arthur Phayre, in 1877, together with the full military reports on the fortifications of Mauritius in the possession of the War Office in London, will probably enable the Royal Commission to come to a decision respecting the naval and military defence of this island. I may mention that, as I shall be in London on leave of absence next year, I can then tender personally any further evidence that may be required.
6. I would take this occasion of repeating that Mauritius is, as M. Thiers has said in his "History of the Consulate and Empire" (Book 54), “the Malta of the Indian Ocean," that is, a naval and military station as important, for the strength and influence of the British Empire, and for the protection of British commerce in the Eastern seas, as is Malta in the Mediterranean sea. The present state of naval affairs, and the future conditions of naval warfare, render more important than ever the secure posses- sion of a first class fortress, harbour, graving dock, and coaling station in this part of the world. The vast loss inflicted on British commerce at the beginning of the present century by the French men-of- war and privateers from Port Louis, supplies a pregnant warning for the future.
7. It will be recollected that while Mauritius ranks as an Imperial, naval, and military station with Malta, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, and Bermuda, it is far more important as a Colony than any of these Imperial places of arms, inasmuch as it possesses a public revenue exceeding 700,000l. annually and a trade (including exports and imports) valued at above 6,000,000l. sterling annually.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
G. F. BOWEN.
Inclosure 2 in No. 42.
Sir G. Bowen to Sir M. Hicks Beach.
Sir,
Government House, Mauritius, April 21, 1880.
I HAVE the honour to report that on the 14th instant news reached Mauritius by a boat from Rodrigues (a small island dependent on this Colony, and distant from it above 300 miles to the east) that a British ship, the "Cadzow Forest," of Glasgow, David Marshall, master, had been stranded there on the voyage from Calcutta to Demerara. The master of this ship wrote to the Harbour-master at Port Louis (Commander Craufurd, R.N.) that he was confident that he could save his ship and cargo with the assistance of a steamer, which he urged might be sent to him forthwith.
2. Unfortunately, the steam-tug "Victoria," belonging to the Government of this Colony, is not in a position to go to sea, the new boilers having only just arrived from England. There is no Queen's ship here now, and the mail-steamer could not proceed to Rodrigues, as it has to leave with the mails for Europe to-morrow.
3. Under these circumstances, I was advised by the Executive Council, at the instance of the Harbour-master and of the Lloyd's Agents in this Colony, that there was no alternative between the utter loss of a valuable British ship and a request for assistance to the Government of the neighbouring French Island of Réunion (Bourbon). It then became my obvious duty to address to Her Majesty's Consul at Réunion a letter (of which I inclose a copy) transmitting to him a copy of the letter from the Harbour-master containing the particulars of the case. These documents were forwarded by a steam- launch. The Consul made application immediately to the French Governor, who forthwith sent off the Cher," the French man-of-war stationed at Réunion and placed under his orders. This ship arrived at Port Louis on the 18th, and proceeded to Rodrigues on the 19th. I will report the result on the return of the "Cher."
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* Inclosure in No. 2.
+ Inclosures 1, 2, and 3 in No. 32.
Inclosure in No. 38.
Inclosure 2.
§ Inclosure 3.
¶ Not printed.
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