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Appendix No. 4.

MAURITIUS.

130

No. 47.

Colonial Office to Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad.

Sir,

Downing Street, November 16, 1881. WITH reference to the letter from this Department of the 19th September,* I am directed by the Earl of Kimberley to transmit to you, to be laid before the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad, a copy of a letter from the Admiralty, forwarding a copy of a despatch from Rear-Admiral Gore Jones, Commander-in-chief in the East Indies, containing observa- tions on the Report of the local Committee on the defence of Mauritius.

I am, &c.

(Signed) JOHN BRAMSTON.

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Inclosure 1 in No. 47.

Admiralty to Colonial Office.

Sir,

Admiralty, November 8, 1881.

WITH reference to my letter of the 18th April last on the subject of the Circular letter directing naval officers to facilitate the collection by local Committees of colonial, naval, and military officers of information respecting the capabilities for defence of various Colonial ports, I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Earl of Kimberley, a copy of a despatch from the Commander-in-chief in the East Indies, forwarding certain correspondence and the Report of the local Committee on the defence of the Island of Mauritius, together with his own remarks on the subject.

2. The inclosures to this despatch are not sent herewith, as it is assumed they are already in possession of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, but if required copies of them can be furnished.

3. It appears to their Lordships that the recommendations of this Committee for the defence of Mauritius amount in fact to entrusting its defence to the navy, and my Lords feel it necessary to express their dissent from such a proposal.

In their opinion, the Royal Navy ought not to be relied on for maintaining ships of war for the special defence of any particular place, as such an arrangement would result in Her Majesty's ships being scattered and unsupported, whereas if concentrated they would be ready to defend the Colonies from any force which might be directed against them, as well as to carry on such offensive operations as might be desirable elsewhere.

4. It appears to my Lords that local defences should be maintained by the army or by local trained forces, and need only to be sufficient to resist attacks by small squadrons or single ships, while attacks by a large force should be provided against by such general naval operations as may be best calculated to meet the particular circumstances of the case.

I am, &c.

(Signed)

ROBERT HALL.

(Confidential.) Sir,

Inclosure 2 in No. 47.

Rear-Admiral Gore Jones to Admiralty.

**

Euryalus,” at Zanzibar, August 24, 1881.

I HAVE the honour to forward the following correspondence and Report upon the defence of the Island of Mauritius.

2. On my recent visit there I was requested by the Lieutenant-Governor to appoint two naval officers (in compliance with the Admiralty Confidential letter dated the 18th April, 1881), to join the Committee which he was about to form to take the important subject into consideration, and I accordingly named Captain Duckworth King and Torpedo-Lieutenant Reginald William Scott Rogers, of my flag-ship.

3. Colonel Gordon, Royal Engineers, was named as President of the Committee.

4. The Committee having taken up the Confidential printed Memorandat inclosed on the defence of Mauritius, and which it is necessary to read in conjunction with their Report, rejected it as a whole because very great expense would be incurred by any one of the schemes there proposed, and all of which aimed only at the defence of the town and harbour of Port Louis, leaving out all considerations of the coast defence.

5. The Committee therefore now propose----

(1.) That Fort George only be remodelled, and that the main defence should rest upon gun-boats and torpedoes.

(2.) That the present police of the island, amounting to 700 men, should be remodelled on a military footing, and thereby a garrison of regular troops, amounting to 1,700 men, avoided.

(3.) That only 250 troops would be required as a permanent garrison.

(4) That the gun-boats should be maintained at the cost of the Colony, and be manned by sailors in charge of the Captain of the Port, who is now and should be always in future a selected Royal Naval officer.

6. It is shown that the expense of this system would not be more than it is at present; that it would be much more effective than any previously proposed plan, as landings could be effected at

Inclosure 1 in No. 8, Appendix No. 1, First Report.

* No. 44.

‡ No. 49.

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