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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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No. 237.

Colonial Office to Admiralty.

Downing Street, July 15, 1878.

(Secret and Confidential.) Sir,

I AM directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to transmit to you, to be Jaid before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, copies of inclosures to a despatch received from the Governor-General of Canada,* on which the telegram was founded of which a paraphase was inclosed in the Secret and Confidential Letter from this Depart- ment dated the 9th instant.+

(Confidential.) Sir,

I (Signed)

am, &c.

R. H. MEADE.

No. 238.

War Office to Colonial Office.

War Office, July 16, 1878. I AM directed by the Secretary of State for War to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 24th June, 1878, forwarding a copy of a despatch from the Governor of Mauritius relative to the defence of the Colony in the event of war; and in reply I am to acquaint you, for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that, con- sidering that there are four breech-loading rifled guns of 7 inches, and forty-one smooth-bore guns, mounted in Fort George, the Secretary of State for War cannot agree with the Governor that should even one ironclad appear it would be right to come to terms at once.

It is no doubt the case that these guns will not command the sides of an ironclad, but there are other parts more vulnerable than the sides, and vital if pierced; and it would clearly be the duty of the officer in command to fight the fort until satisfied that farther fighting was absolutely useless. The entrance to the channel is so far removed from the centre of the town, that probably the Governor overrates the effect upon the town of fire from the few guns of an ironclad, distracted as they would be by the concentrated and rapid fire of the numerous guns of the fort.

The two 6-inch guns allotted for the defence of Mauritius will probably have reached this station, and been placed in position, before these remarks can be conveyed to the Governor in which case there can be no longer reason for apprehension with respect to a moderate force of ironclads, especially as the guns will be supplemented by the submarine mines which have been dispatched also.

I have, &c. (Signed) EUSTACE G. CECIL

No. 239.

Lieutenant-Governor Barlee to the Right Hon. Sir M. E. Hicks Beach, Bart.-(Received July 16.) (No. 40. Secret.)

Government House, Belize, June 10, 1878.

Sir,

I HAVE carefully considered the several instructions contained in the Circular dated 20th March, 1878.§ from Sir M. E. Hicks Beach, marked Secret, and in reference thereto have the honour to report :-

1. No measures have as yet been adopted for the defence of any port in this Colony from attack by sea, and the only port where, in my opinion, it would be at all advisable to attempt any such defence is that of Belize, the capital of the Colony, where the public Treasury and the stores and specie of the principal merchants are located.

2. The entrance to the harbour of Belize is long and intricate; no person unacquainted with it would attempt without a pilot to bring in a vessel drawing upwards of 10 feet of water. The pilots are not public servants, but are licensed pilots living at cays thirty and forty miles from Belize, on the look-out for vessels. They pilot by knowledge of land- marks, aided by buoys, and do not understand the use of charts. I fear that any attempt to make them understand what vessels should or should not be piloted in time of war would prove unsuccessful, and that probably they would, in the case of invasion by an

No. 15.

• No. 229.

+ No. 227.

* No. 195.

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enemy's ship, be compelled to perform the duty, even should they be unwilling to do so.

3. A vessel lying off Belize could throw shot or shell into the town without the least difficulty, and there are no possible means available here by which such could be prevented. Some years since it was proposed to construct a tower in the harbour, to carry two heavy guns,

but the idea was abandoned on the question of cost and other obvious reasons, and I do not think such a course necessary or desirable.

4. From the position in the harbour where vessels can safely lie to the town of Belize there is only one passage to the town, and that is very narrow and shallow, continually requiring the services of a dredge to keep it open even for vessels drawing 2 to 3 feet of water, and there is no other passage through which a ship's boat can reach the town.

5. The ordnance available at Belize consists of two 6-pounder field pieces and one 4-inch howitzer, and, after consulting with the military authorities, it has been thought that two of these guns can be best made available by putting them in position to command the narrow passage adverted to in the previous paragraph, and this I have ordered to be done without delay.

6. 1 am very glad to be able to report that a volunteer rifle corps has been started at Belize, and I have every reason to think the movement will be successful and permanent. About 120 effective men have already joined.

7. I am sanguine enough to hope that with two guns and an effective rifle corps a stout resistance to the landing of armed parties in boats may be made. To attempt more than this would in my opinion be unwise and probably useless. If by such means we can prevent the abstraction of funds from the public Treasury and other sources, we must risk the damage that may be done to the town by the shot and shell of a disappointed privateer.

て

No. 240.

I have, &c.

(Signed) FRED. P. BARLEE.

Colonial Office to Admiral Sir A. Milne, Bart.

(Secret and Confidential.)

Sir,

Downing Street, July 17, 1878.

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) from the Governor of Hong Kong, calling attention to the possibility of utilizing Hong Kong as a recruiting ground for raising Chinese regiments for the Queen's service in India or in any part of the world.

2. The question of supplementing the Hong Kong garrison by raising a battalion of Chinese was dealt with in your report on the temporary defences of the Cape of Good Hope and the Eastern Colonies, but it appeared to Sir Michael Hicks Beach doubtful whether satisfactory means existed of raising the proposed additional forces within Hong Kong and the other Colonies, and in a letter to the War Office, of which I inclose a copy, it was suggested that they might be most economically and efficiently furnished from India. It will, however, be seen from the inclosed despatch that Governor Hennessy thinks that 20,000 Chinamen of good physique might be recruited in Hong Kong for service elsewhere.

Sir,

No 241.

I am, &c.

(Signed)

War Office to Colonial Office.

R. H. MEADE.

War Office, July 18, 1878. IN reply to your letter of the 11th instant, transmitting a copy of a despatch received from the Governor-General of Canada in regard to the defence of the principal Canadian Atlantic ports, I am directed by Secretary Colonel Stanley to acquaint you, for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that the seventeen-pounder 58-cwt. converted guns alluded to could be supplied in about three months from date of order,

• No. 231.