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such action on the part of the Defence has now been eliminated as it has been considered by the Admiralty and War Office as likely to hamper the action of the shore guns in dealing with possibly hostile vessels.

6. Page 6, lines 7 and 8.-It is stated that, owing to the absence of electric lights, one of the most probable forms of attack would be by the ingress of ships into the harbour of Steamer Point during the night for the purpose of destroying the shipping and of landing troops in Church or Crescent Bays, who would endeavour to destroy the coal and condensers.

In 1894 the Joint Naval and Military Committee on Defence, remarking on Reports by Local Committees on Indian Ports, recommended, with regard to Aden, the provision of one electric light installation at the Old Saluting Pier, with a beam to cover the examination anchorage. It does not appear from the Scheme at present under consideration that this installation had been provided in 1895, nor can its provision since that date be traced from the Special Defence Works Estimates.

The Colonial Defence Committee consider it advisable that there should be a beam covering the immediate approach to the anchorage where ships at Aden would usually lie, and that it should be possible to traverse this beam so as to search the anchorage itself, and detect a vessel that was there for hostile purposes. The position recom- mended by the Joint Naval and Military Committee for the installation will probably be found convenient for a beam to be employed as above.

The watching and defence of the landing places contemplated in the Scheme are ample to provide for the contingency of troops landing from hostile ships in the harbour at night.

7. Page 6 (ƒ), (ii).—The plan proposed of placing 3-pr. Q.-F. guns and infantry on barges or rafts as a protection to vessels in the Inner Harbour against the attack of carried torpedo-boats does not commend itself to the Committee. The barges or rafts could easily be destroyed or sunk. It would be better to utilize the electric lights of any merchant-vessels that may have them to illumine an area in front, covered by fire from the shore as far as may be possible. Men-of-war in the harbour will arrange for their own defence.

Chapter II.

8. Pages 13 to 30.-In this Chapter (see especially Tables on pages 26 to 28) there seems to be a considerable departure from the principles of Chapter I, Part III, and an unnecessary dissemination of the defence.

The policy of Chapter I, Part III, is—

(i.) Confidence in the power of the fixed defences to beat off a sea attack; and (ii) A vigorous offensive against parties landed from four war-ships, terminated by the retreat of the defenders, if overpowered, on the fortified positions round Steamer Point.

The practice of the rest of the Scheme is-

(i.) To take 303 out of the 603 British infantry (excluding officers) to work guns; and

(ii.) To disperse, on alarm of attack, the remaining infantry over a variety of prepared positions in such a way that, at any rate until the arrival of the additional infantry regiment from India, no effective reserve (or what really should be called field force) is available for offensive action.

The reserves of the Steamer Point Position, for example, turn out to be only 49 of all ranks British Infantry, and 249 Native Infantry. The rest of the infantry in this all-important portion of the fortress is distributed over nine different forts and positions, trying to be strong everywhere, and consequently being strong nowhere.

9. The first essential seems to be to free the infantry from artillery work. The guns can be worked with reduced detachments, or, if necessary, the particular forts in action can be given infantry aid, and it seems manifestly unsound to unman a rifle which has a detachment of only one, and can be moved for use anywhere, in order to fill deficiencies in the detachment of a gun which can be worked with less than its drill-book number, which may not come into action at all, and which can always be given extra hands when wanted.

The basis on which artillery garrisons have been approved for Colonial Ports, is one relief per gun, and two per Q.-F. gun, mounted to oppose torpedo-boat attack On this basis, and on the assumption that the armament shown in the Military

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