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mounted in a few days' time, the remainder of the battery will be completed in January next. The 12-pr. battery will, it is hoped, be completed in September, and the guns have been received. The plans of the Devil's Peak Battery have been approved, and work commences shortly.

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I strongly urge the early dispatch of the guns of the latest approved movable | A armament. With the exception of six 2.95-inch guns there are no movable guns capable of firing cordite, and in this respect the defence is seriously handicapped.

7. My attention has again been drawn to the importance of forms of obstruction for closing the western entrances to the harbour by so eminent an authority as Admiral Seymour, a copy of whose letter on the subject I now attach, and I request that authority may be accorded for carrying into effect the recommendations he puts forward. It would appear that the provisions of paragraph of the Report XXXI of the Joint Naval and Military Committee on Defence, dated the 28th March, 1901, admit of obstructions of this nature being used.

8. I have addressed his Excellency the Governor on the subject of the makeshift magazine at Stonecutters, which still remains as a source of danger to the Colony. The Colonial Defence Committee have required an explanation of me as to the reason why the approved plans have not been carried out. It appears from the correspondence that has passed between his Excellency and myself that a sum of 25,000$ was inserted in the Colonial Estimates for 1899 for the provision of a new magazine, but that the item was disallowed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and it was not again inserted. I am given to understand that, under a recent arrangement, the expense of building another magazine will be borne by the Imperial Government as a military charge, but I am without definite information on the point. I would ask that the matter be taken up by the War Office.

9. I have also been in correspondence with his Excellency on the subject of a harbour of refuge for women and children, but so far a satisfactory solution has not been arrived at. There are no less than 4,000 European women and children, besides a number of Chinese British subjects, to provide for, and it will doubtless be admitted that the provision of safe accommodation for so large a number in a situation of safety, free from intrusion, and supplied with the ordinary comforts of life, demands a great amount of forethought and organization. The task of keeping them supplied with food at a time when the energies of the garrison will be strained to their utmost is not the least of the many problems which present themselves.

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Various suggestions in regard to this matter have been put forward culminating with one which appears to be the most feasible, viz., of housing them on board of such passenger boats as may happen to be present in the harbour when the emergency arises. There are many steamship companies in Hong Kong who run a superior class of passenger ships such as the Canadian Pacific and the P. and O. Their ships could be easily fitted to hold 1,500 to 2,000 souls, and could be utilised to house the women and children of the higher classes. The remainder could be distributed over ships of the essentially local firms, which, though small, are, as a rule, well found. I estimate that the number of ships of all classes that would be required would not exceed five. feeling of the steamship companies has also been sounded, and I think I may safely say that they are prepared to give their hearty co-operation. I would further propose to utilize the services of the women's husbands as a guard for their protection, by issuing arms to them. The more I think of it the more feasible does this plan appear as the best solution of a difficult problem. The scheme, however, when submitted for approval has not been favourably entertained by his Excellency the Governor, who, in turn, suggests the women and children being housed at Stonecutters, but such a plan is, I fear, altogether impracticable. It seems to me that a Chinese insurrection, against which we are making provision, is an event which would be more likely to occur at a time when our hands were full combatting the attacks of an hostile European Power or Japan, than at any other, and I am accordingly approaching the subject under that presumption. The presence of a few and still more of a large number of women and children would always be out of place in any section of the defence where fighting is likely to occur, and would seriously hamper the defenders. It is more than probable that a large number of women and children would voluntarily leave the Colony when any serious emergency threatened, an event which would facilitate the plan of housing those who remained on board ship.

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