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written instructions being drawn up and given to cach Section Commander on appoint- ment. On a change of units at the station the issue of such instructions appears essential, as officers to whom the ground and the situation were unknown would otherwise be unacquainted with their responsibilities; moreover, such instructions are of value as a record of the experience acquired in practising defence operations, and would be of much assistance to a new General on assuming command.

The Colonial Defence Committee therefore suggest that this Chapter should in future embody instructions dealing with the various points enumerated in paragraph 20 of their Memorandum No. 46, dated the 3rd May, 1893.

Chapter V.-Orders to Corps as to Procedure on Mobilization.

24. Pages 53 to 56.-It appears to have been overlooked that the details as to procedure of corps on mobilization contained in other Chapters of the Scheme will not be constantly available to all Officers Commanding units, and that these officers should have in their possession drafts of the regimental orders which they will issue to their corps on the publication of the general order to place the station in a state of defence. These regimental orders, drawn up in accordance with the instructions contained in paragraph 21 of the Colonial Defence Committee's Memorandum No. 46, above referred to, need not be lengthy, and should be included in Chapter V of the Defence Scheme.

Chapter VI. Harbour Regulations, Civil Administration, and Miscellanea.

25. Page 59. Regulation of Harbour Traffic. Since this subject was last dealt with by the Colonial Defence Committee with reference to Hong Kong, further consideration of it in connection with other stations both at home and abroad has shown the necessity for some modification of the principle on which the examination of vessels is conducted. It is now thought that to assume that ships will know where they are to anchor in order to avoid being treated as enemies might involve serious risks to friendly vessels, which, in spite of notices to Consuls and other precautionary measures, may not have had an opportunity of making themselves acquainted with the war Regulations of the ports they may wish to enter.

It is therefore necessary to put the responsibility of identifying every arrival from seaward, in the first instance, on the examination vessel, who should direct the stranger to bring to. Should the incoming ship, from ignorance or treachery, attempt to evade the examination vessel, the latter should signal to the batteries, and they, irrespective of the position the ship may have arrived at, would bring her to either by a signal, in the shape of a shot across her bows, or, if this was ineffectual, by firing at her. In the event of no signal being received from the examination vessel, or, in her temporary absence, any ship proceeding at speed towards the inner waters of a harbour, may be presumed to be hostile, and must be brought to by the batteries, and as soon as she reaches the inner limit of the examination anchorage-conveniently termed the examination line-she must be treated as an enemy. The examination line should be drawn from a battery to prevent any mistake as to the position of the approaching ship, and so that the crossing of the line may be instantly followed by the fire necessary to stop or sink her.

The application of these principles to Hong Kong will involve some modifications in the wording of the traffic Regulations, a slight alteration in the directions of the examination lines, so that they may fall on the outer batteries of the defence, and some further organization of the examination service, so that it may be effective at once when it is decided to put the traffic Regulations into force.

With regard to the time when such action will be taken and the mine-fields laid attention is called to the following extract from Report XIX of the Joint Naval and Military Committee on Defence, which does not appear to be thoroughly appreciated in the first sentence on p. 59 and in the final sentence on p. 40 of the Scheme:

"The time after a declaration of war, or commencement of hostilities, at which it would be advisable to put in force the traffic Regulations, inust vary with the distance of the port from the base of the enemy, the nature of the attack to which it is liable, and other special conditions which would be known at the time at each place; but if the great importance of maintaining and protecting our trade is accepted in principle, it would indicate that though immediate mobilization is essential to an effective state of defence, the protection derived from the examination and exclusion of vessels may be considered as a second phase of the defence dependent upon the enemy's vessels being in certain

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