A.—2b.

8

that attention has so unfortunately been drawn to the subject, to take some steps which would at any rate alleviate the sufferings of any persons who may in future unfortunately be wrecked upon them. 3. The cost of establishing such a depot as that proposed could not be large, while it may be the means of saving many valuable lives. I have, &c, The Right Hon. the Earl of Carnarvon, &c, &c. Normanby.

Enclosure in No. 5. Memorandum for His Excellency. The Chamber of Commerce at Christchurch recently drew attention to the privations and sufferings of the survivors from the wreck of the " Strathmore " on the Crozet Islands, and suggested that the Home authorities should be urged to place thereon a supply of food and clothing for the relief of castaways. As these dangerous islets lie in the track of vessels making the voyage from Europe to Australia and New Zealand, there can be no question as to the desirability of taking the precaution to prevent any persons who may hereafter be unfortunately cast ashore there from encountering sufferings such as those to which the survivors from the " Strathmore " were exposed. The Government, therefore, beg that His Excellency will represent this matter for the favourable consideration of the Home Government. It appears from correspondence between the Lords of the Admiralty and the Committee of Lloyd's with respect to Her Majesty's ships calling at the islands between the Cape of Good Hope and Australia, for the purpose of rescuing persons who may be shipwrecked upon any of them (a copy of which correspondence was laid before the House of Commons, and printed), that my Lords decided to give orders that Her Majesty's ships proceeding from the Cape of Good Hope to Australia shall, in future, when possible, pass the Crozets sufficiently near to examine them. The Government venture to express a hope that, on the representations made herein being conveyed to the Lords of the Admiralty, they will see fit to supplement the instructions they have already given, by directing that a supply of food and clothing shall be landed on the islands, as promptly as possible, from one of Her Majesty's ships; and that whenever the group is subsequently visited, the depot shall be inspected, and the supply renewed as far as may be necessary. I have, &c, Wellington, 11th November, 1876. H. A. Atkinson.

No. 6. The Colonial Office to the Admiralty. Sib, — Downing Street, 21st February, 1877. With reference to the letter from this department of the 15th of May last, and to the reply from the Admiralty of the 18th of the same month,* in regard to the importance of Her Majesty's ships visiting, whenever practicable, the groups of uninhabited or unfrequented islands lying, more or less, in the track of vessels trading between this country and the Australasian Colonies, I am directed by the Earl of Carnarvon to transmit to you, to be laid before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, a copy of a despatch from the Governor of New Zealand,f enclosing a memorandum from his Government expressing their hope that the Lords Commissioners will supplement the instructions they have already given upon this subject, by directing that a depot of food and clothing be established on the Crozet Islands for the use of any persons who may unfortunately be wrecked there. Lord Carnarvon desires me to add an expression of his own strong hope that it will be in the power of their Lordships to comply with the suggestion made by the New Zealand Government. I have, &c, The Secretary of the Admiralty. W. R. Malcolm.

No. 7. The Admiralty to the Colonial Office. Sir,— Admiralty, 10th March, 1877. With reference to your letter of the 21st February last,J and its enclosures relative to the establishment of a depot of food and clothing in the Crozet Islands for the use of any persons who may be shipwrecked there, I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you, for the information of the Earl of Carnarvon, that great difficulties exist in the way of placing depots on these islands, as they are all " iron-bound," and, as a rule, inaccessible. Landing anywhere, even under favourable auspices, is precarious. The weather, as a rule, is extremely boisterous, accompanied with fogs, and there is only one known anchorage in the whole group, and this is a small and open one on the leewardmost island. 2. The group consists of five islands or clusters of islets, the largest of which is about thirteen miles in length and seven in breadth, and they occupy an area included in thirty-five miles of latitude and two degrees of longitude. 3. My Lords desire me here to observe that the " Strathmore " was lost on the northernmost of the group, which appears to be the smallest cluster, so that depots on any other of the islands would * No. 3. t No. 5. t No. 6.