A.—No. 1a

for the transportation of convicts; as well as a copy of a Despatch from Her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris, relative to the penal settlements to which Communist convicts are to be transported. I am, &c, The Under Secretary of State, Colonial Office. E. Hammond.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 39. Lord Lyons to Earl Geanyille. (No. 235.) My Lobd,— Paris, 24th February, 1872. In my Despatch No. 234, of to-day, I have enclosed a second copy of the Bill brought into the Assembly by the Government, to designate as stations to which convicts are to be transported the Peninsula of Ducos in New Caledonia, the He dcs Pins, and the He Mare, in the neighbourhood of that Colony, and the He dcs Saintes, on the south of Q-uadaloupe, in the West Indies. The expose dcs ■motifs prefixed to the Bill will have made your Lordship acquainted with the details of the Grovernment plan. I have herewith the honor to transmit to your Lordship an account taken from the Journal dcs Debats, of the proceedings of the Committee appointed by the Assembly to consider the Bill. This account is, of course, not official but is in all probability substantially correct. The number of persons under sentence of transportation, in consequence of the part taken by them in the Paris insurrection, appears to have been roughly stated as being between five and six thousand. Tour lordship will observe also that one of the Members of the Committee, Admiral de Montaignac, expressed a fear that disputes might arise between the convicts and the English missionaries in the Loyalty Islands, if the He dcs Pins were made one of the stations. I have, &c, The Earl Granville, KG., &c, &c. Lions.

Journal dcs Debats, Feb. 23 and 24, 1872. Earl G-ranyille to Lord Lyons. No. 425 of 1871. Wo. 44 of 1872. To Mr. West. No. 160 of 1871. Lord Lyons. No. 792. „ 890 of 1871. » 49. „ 193. „ 197. Mr. West. No. 184.

No. 40. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley to Governor Sir G. E. Bowen, G.C.M.G. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 13th March, 1872. With reference to previous Despatches, I have to inform you that the Secretary of State for Eoreign Affairs has communicated to me a Despatch from Her Majesty's Agent and Consul-General in Egypt, reporting the arrival at Suez of the Erench transport "Le Rhin," with 586 Communist prisoners for New Caledonia. I have, &c, The Officer Administering the Government KIMBERLEY. of New Zealand.

No. 41. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Bight Hon. the Earl of Kimberley to Governor Sir G. E. Bowen, G.C.M.G. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 14th March, 1872. "With reference to my previous Circulars on the subject of the transportation of Erench convicts who took part in the Paris insurrection, I transmit to you, for your information, a copy of a further Despatch received through the Eoreign Office from Her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris, relative to the establishment in New Caledonia and in the He dcs Saintes of a station for the detention of the convicts in question. I have, &c, The Officer Administering the Government KIMBERLEY. of New Zealand.

March 2, 1872.

Enclosure in No. 41. Lord Lyons to Lord Gbanville. Mi Loed,— Paris, March 2, 1872. With reference to my Despatch No. 235, of the 24th ultimo, to your Lordship's Despatch No. 44, of the 19th ultimo, and to the previous correspondence respecting the transportation of French convicts to stations in the vicinity of British colonies, I have the honor to transmit to your Lordship 10

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TO THE GOVERNOR OF NEW ZEALAND.