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of 198,000l., to afford shelter from the north-east monsoon, which blows during six months of the year. Sir J. Coode was asked, if the whole trade of Galle was transferred to Colombo at once, would 250 acres of anchorage in the harbour be sufficient? His reply was,

"It would as the traffic is now, but my belief is that it would not be eventually;" and when asked where a site for a naval establishment could be found, he stated that land could be reclaimed by dredging the harbour.

With such evidence from the engineer of the works I am at a loss to see where space is to be found in this mercantile harbour for a naval station as a substitute for the spacious and secure anchorage of Trincomalee. The building of the northern breakwater, the dredging of the harbour, the reclaiming of the land, and the building of the requisite naval establishment would be a very heavy expense, the greater part of which would probably fall on the Home Government. But no notice is taken of this expenditure in the Report. I admit Colombo will be a convenient position for the coaling of our cruizing ships on the western seas near Ceylon, but in my opinion, it never can, from want of space, be a naval station or harbour of refuge for our fleet in peace or war, and it is for a period of war that the Royal Commission had to consider this question.

It must not be overlooked that, if merely a commercial port, Colombo would probably not be attacked by an enemy. Make it an Imperial port, and it would then become open to attack. The Report states it cannot be made secure by land batteries alone against long-range fire. Hence our ships of war refitting would not be safe at such an exposed anchorage; in fact, it would only be a shelter from the sea during the south-west monsoon.

For these various reasons, I consider that Trincomalee should on no account be abandoned, but should be continued as a coaling-station, and as a harbour essentially necessary for Her Majesty's navy during war.

The Pacific Squadron and Esquimali.

I do not concur in the view of the other members of the Commission, that in order to strengthen the China squadron to act against Russia in the Western Pacific the present Pacific squadron should be transferred to the China command; and I am of opinion that the naval station at Esquimalt and the town of Victoria should be reasonably defended at a moderate outlay, as recommended by the Colonial Defence Committee of 1878, leaving it to the professional authorities at the War Office to decide what is necessary.

The Pacific station is one of vast extent, reaching from the Antarctic Ocean to Behring's Straits, along the whole west coasts of South and North America, and from thence to the 160th and 170th degrees of west longitude, a portion of the globe's surface which includes the Sandwich and Society Islands, the naval stations of the United States, and French squadrons in the Pacific Ocean. The object of our squadron, consisting of one iron-clad, two corvettes, four sloops, and one gun-vessel, is to afford aid and support to Her Majesty's Ministers and Consuls and British subjects resident in the capitals and ports of that extensive coast, to afford aid to our commerce (about 12,000,000l.), to visit and report on the islands in the Pacific, and maintain our national prestige with foreign countries and squadrons. So long as peace is maintained, there is ample employment for the ships of this squadron to watch our extensive national interests on the coasts of the American Continent, and especially at Vancouver, the naval station at Esquimalt, with the town of Victoria, and probably, in a few years hence, the terminus and harbour of the Canadian Railway.

I agree with the Commission that Vancouver and British Columbia would fall to any well-organized attack by the forces of the United States; but I do not consider that the naval station at Esquimalt should be exposed to serious danger if attacked even by a small squadron of any other country, which would probably be the case if the Pacific squadron were withdrawn.

The Colonial Defence Committee of 1878 decided that this station and the neighbouring town of Victoria should be reasonably protected, It is and I see no new grounds to alter the opinions then expressed. a question to be decided between Her Majesty's Government and the

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