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Appendix No. 4.

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44

No. 2 A.

Sir,

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

Downing Street, August 25, 1881. I AM directed by the Eart of Kimberley to transmit to you, for the information of the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad, a copy of a letter from the War Office, accompanied by printed copies of Memoranda, prepared in that Department, on the defence of the places noted in the margin of the War Office letter.

I am also to inclose a copy of the correspondence, noted in the margin,* showing the action which has been taken on the War Office letter.

I am, &c.

(Signed)

ROBERT G. W. HERBERT.

Inclosure 1 in No. 2 A.

War Office to Colonial Office.

Sir,

War Office, August 18, 1881. WITH reference to letter from this Office dated the 25th February, 1881,† I am directed by the Secretary of State for War to forward the accompanying thirty copies of Memoranda on the defence of each of the Colonies noted in the margin.‡

Inclosure 2 in No. 2 A.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

RALPH THOMPSON.

Circular addressed to the Officer Administering the Government of

Downing Street, August 23, 1881

(Secret.) Sir,

I HAVE the honour to transmit to you the accompanying copy of a letter from the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad,§ stating that, in order to be in a position to make specific recommendations, it becomes necessary for them to obtain information, in greater detail than they now possess, respecting the different places which have, so far, come pro- minently into notice.

I also transmit to you a copy of the further correspondence, noted in the margin, which has since passed between this Department, the War Office, and the Admiralty, on the subject of the letter from the Royal Defence Commission, together with a copy of the printed Memoranda inclosed in the War Office letter of the 25th February; and I have to request that a careful Report on the measures necessary for the defence of the places referred to in the letters from the War Office of the 25th February and the 18th August, 1881, that are within the Colony under your government, with estimates of cost, the garrisons required, and the assistance which may be expected from local levies, may be prepared by a local Committee of colonial, military, and naval officers, and may be trans- mitted to me, with the least possible delay, with any observations which you may think fit to offer.

I have, &c. (Signed)

KIMBERLEY.

Inclosure 3 in No. 2 A.

The Earl of Kimberley to the Lieutenant-Governor of Mauritius and the Governor of the Straits

(Secret.) Sir,

Settlements.

Downing Street, August 25, 1881.

I HAVE the honour to transmit to you the accompanying printed copies of a Memorandum which has been prepared by direction of the Secretary of State for War on the defence of the Seychelles

and I have to request that you will furnish me with a Report on the measures necessary Penang

;

* Inclosures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Inclosure 1 in No. 6, Appendix No. 1 to First Report.

Cyprus, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ascension, St. Helena, Ceylon, Perim, Seychelles, Penang, Labuan, Chagos Archipelago, King George's Sound, Torres Straits, Fiji Islands, Falkland Islands, Antigua, St. Lucia, Bahamas, St. John's, Newfoundland, Barbados, and Cocos, or Keeling Islands.

July 26, 1880 (No. 1 in Appendix 1 to First Report).

Colonial Office to War Office, August 7, 1880, No. 2 (Appendix No. 1 to First Report). War Office to Colonial Office, February 25, 1881 (Extract), Inclosure 1 in No. 6 (ditto). Colonial Office to Admiralty, March 14, 1881 (Extract), Inclosure 2 in No. 6 (ditto). Admiralty to Colonial Office, April 18, 1881 (Extract), Inclosure 1 in No. 8 (ditto). Colonial Office to War Office, April 28, 1881 (Extract), Inclosure 2 in No. 8 (ditto). War Office to Colonial Office, August 18, 1881, Inclosure 1 in No. 2A.

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