130
anchoring of Foreign Men-of-War elsewhere than in the Man-of-
War Anchorages.
77
The order therefore embodied no new principle but merely extended an old one. No objection has, as far as I am aware, been raised by any Foreign Power to the several orders I have referred to.
3.
I understand that the Commander-in-Chief has addressed the Admiralty asking that the order of June last may be allowed to stand. In my opinion there is good reason for adhering to the restrictions imposed by the order, and I would suggest that they be embodied in regulations, of which I enclose draft for your consideration, under Table 'M' of Ordinance No. 36 of 1899, since that form is preferred.
4.
The reference made by the Admiralty to Clause 6 of the Colonial Defence Committee's Memorandum of 21st July, 1899, seems hardly in point. Mirs Bay is not a Port of this Colony. It is not commanded by any forts or other defence works. It is therefore impossible, even if it were feasible to make arrangements for berthing Foreign Men-of-War there, to take any such precautions as are implied in the Memorandum in question. Nor can I agree in the statement made in the letter from the Admiralty of the 2nd ultimo that Mirs Bay cannot be regarded as a place from which an attempt might be made to take the defences of Hongkong at a disadvantage. It is obvious that one of the principal objectives of an attack upon this Colony would be to gain possession of positions on the Kowloon Range of hills. The principal avenue of access for such purpose to the Range is Mirs Bay.
5.
The same remarks apply to Tytan Bay and the