CO885-(18-19) — Page 318

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O.885

18 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO |

- Work

SIR,

(No. 186/256/1907;)~

158

Enclosure in No. 105.

Survey Department, Lagos, December 5, 1907.

I HAVE read the report of the Colonial Survey Committee (second year) on this Department, and would have felt deeply chagrined at its contents had not the report carried with it its own condemnation in so far as it reflects upon the work carried out by this Department during any period of my administration.

2. I propose to deal with the items of this report seriatim, and would first carried out point out that it seems most unfair and unbusiness-like to criticise the work to be

carried out during a year before half that year has passed.

=

during

1906- 1907."

Theodo-

lite Tra-

verges.

"Compass

Tm- verses."

"Deter.

mination

of

3. I arranged with the Intelligence Department to carry out a certain amount presume survey work during 1907 (vide Colonial Survey Report of last year), and I that I have a perfect right to carry out that work in the way which I consider most advantageous and economical.

4. This simply refers to the first half of the year, fully double the amount stated has now been completed.

5. Similarly, this deals only with the earlier portion of the year; namely 6,000 miles has now been completed and this can be verified by an inspection of the plan.

6. Here again, only a moiety of the work done is credited, as we have just completed, by refined latitudes and telegraphic exchanges, the determination of a of Latitude large number of places in the Central Province-this, however, I propose to deal

with in a separate report.

and Azi- muth, &c." Sheet 73 E.' "A serious defect in

7. This sheet was forwarded to the Colonial Office in August last.

8. How it is possible to criticise the alleged defects in a plan before that plan has been commenced, I am quite unable to explain. In point of fact, the hill Mapping systems have been delineated (vide sheet already forwarded) and the heights of a large number of the chief hills have been carefully determined barometrically, and are recorded on the plan in feet.

&c., 1906-

1907."

"Although a Survey Depart-

This serious alleged defect is, however, the least important factor in the topo- graphy of the area which has been surveyed during this year.

It is a fact that not two per cent. of country dealt with is even moderately hilly; most of the hills are forest-clad, and, at close quarters, can only be seen occasionally through the thick jungle which frequently surrounds them; hence it will be seen that a survey sufficient to delineate them in proper "relief" would have cost more than could have been allowed from our vote-if the prime factor were not to suffer at the expense of the minor ones.

10. A contour survey would certainly have been of value, but we had neither sufficient men nor money to carry out this work in such a manner as to make it of any great practical value.

33-34

11.

In connection with this matter, it is rather interesting to turn to page of the above-mentioned report and consider with the map before you, and a mental note of the money spent out, the great praise given to Major Guggisberg who, it is unnecessary to mention, is a Royal Engineer. I have had an opportunity of seeing that map, but I have failed to discover either a contour or a hill thereon, yet no mention is made of any "serious defects."

12. In concluding my remarks on this paragraph of the report I would point out that we have defined the hills with a considerable amount of accuracy, the object being to show how they might be avoided in a scheme of road construction, or where the best gradient might be obtained if it was found necessary to construct a road over them.

13. I would very respectfully point out that in my opinion this statement is both inaccurate and misleading. I beg to state most emphatically that the first ment, &c." money worth mentioning voted for the specific purpose of mapping this Colony appeared in the Estimates of 1907. This may be verified by a glance at the Estimates of this Department for the last six years.

14. The allusion to the liberality of the funds surely cannot be taken seriously, and that they were allotted for the purpose of mapping the Colony is not in accord- ance with facts.

15.

The votes for this Department up to this year were practically for cadas tral purposes, for the definition of Crown grants, and for dealing with a very large number of expropriation cases.

159

have been

From the fact that we have carried out about 6,000 miles of traverses during "Mach this year in spite of the fact that our Chief Surveyor, who was in charge of field time ap- operations, became ill almost at the commencement of his tour, and was sick off pears to and on up to the time he was invalided; also, we have had a large amount of sickness spent, &c." in our native staff. In fact, it may be said that we have been carrying on this year with two surveyors (one European and one native) hors de combat.

This is a very serious loss in so small a staff, and every effort was made to com- pensate for this misfortune by working overtime for the whole of the year.

16. If our labours have not been appreciated by the Colonial Survey Com- mittee, they have been rewarded in a very much higher degree, viz., by the unani- mous appreciation of all those “on the spot" who really understand what has been accomplished.

17. This is an error in the right direction, if error it be (which I am not prepared "An un- to admit) those who have been engaged upon the projection of a large map know necessary how imperative it is that the skeleton should "close" within the limits of the degree of precision, &c." plotting, and in a large "surround" accurate work is very essential unless indeed fudging" Le countenanced. This Department, however, at all cost will not allow anything of that nature, for as Major E. H. Hills, R.E., C.M.G., remarks in his report on the survey of Canada: "The maxim that what is worth doing at all is worth doing well, is eminently true of our national survey."

18. In any case, the very large amount of work which has been carried out by this Department during the present year should clearly show that, if the work has been carried out with great accuracy, it has also been executed with great despatch. It is interesting to turn again to page 32 of the report where much emphasis is placed upon the extreme accuracy attained in the traverses on the Gold Coast.

19. I should like to enquire how it is possible to make maps without first "The making traverses. I should say that the Department exists, inter alia, for the Depart- purpose of making good maps from accurate traverses, and that is precisely what ment has been done in this Department. I have been informed that the method of making to make map without traverses was customary before the South African war, the disastrous traverses, effects of which are, unfortunately, too well and too widely known.

exista not

but to

Major Hills's notes on this subject in his report on the survey of Canada should make show that we have adopted an entirely proper course.

maps.

In conclusion, I would point out that a very much larger area has been sur- veyed than was expected could be completed during this year (vide Colonial Survey Committee's report of last year).

The whole of the work appearing on the sheets has been projected from surveys carried out entirely by this Department.

As may be seen, the draftmanship is of a sufficiently high order to allow of direct reproduction by heliozincography, and, therefore, no delay should he experienced in obtaining copies as soon as the sheets reach England; a very different state of affairs to that which might have been expected had the work been sent home in rough form to the Intelligence Division.

I trust that in this report I have shown that the survey has been carried out

in the most economical and advantageous manner possible; the surveys were carried out in the dry, and the plotting in the wet, weather, and while this prevented us sending home the plans till the end of the year, it enabled us to accomplish much more than could have been effected by any other method.

I feel sure that upon perusal of the plans you will be quite satisfied with what has been done, and I trust His Excellency may be good enough to place before the Secretary of State the true state of affairs.

The Honourable

43692

The Colonial Secretary,

Lagos.

No. 106.

I have, &c.,

E. P. COTTON,

Director of Surveys.

EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR.

Downing Street, January 8, 1908.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 484, of

(No. 10.)

SIR,