13

H.—9a

CANTERBURY. Purau Bay.

The corps in North and South Canterbury (except the Canterbury Yeomanry and Temuka Eifles, which did not attend) were encamped at Purau Bay, in the vicinity of Eipa Island, Lyttelton Harbour. The Garrison Battery and Lyttelton Navals worked at the guns mounted for the defence of the harbour, and are reported to have done good work. A great deal of practical field-work was carried out by the other corps in camp with undoubtedly good results, as many officers and men who were totally ignorant of anything but company-drill had an opportunity of improving themselves.

GBNEEAL EEPOET. The Volunteers who attended camps are to be congratulated on having made a step in the right direction as regards their work, and I have no hesitation in saying that the officers and men have benefited largely thereby. The old idea of simply doing company, battalion, and brigade drill, winding up with a sham fight, has been put behind. Field-work and manoeuvres on a quite elementary scale have come to the front. The Naval Artillery Volunteers and Garrison Battery have spent their time in learning their gunnery and submarine work, instead of doing battalion drill and mixing up in sham fights, of which work the most elementary knowledge was always wanting. An excellent camp was held at Palmerston for as many mounted corps as could be brought together. The Field Artillery is the only branch of the service which has not benefited as much as I should have wished. When the number of the batteries are reduced, and those kept up are armed with a serviceable weapon, I hope that each battery will at Easter time have its own camp for instruction and practice, joining eventually, perhaps, when all arms are trained in the rudiments of their work, in some combined manoeuvres. The camps generally have been camps of instruction, and not of play, but the difficulty of instruction has been very great. In the Johnsonville camp there were close on six hundred men, of whom neither officers, non-commissioned officers, nor men had prior to their arrival anything but the foggiest idea of the duties of an outpost. They have gone away with some knowledge, but nothing like what they would have acquired had there been a proper staff of instructors available. A similar state of affairs must have prevailed at the other camps, as it is a practical impossibility for one, or even two or three, to supervise the whole of the camp arrangements, and be out in every direction, teaching each captain of a company the way to tell off his piquet, the manner of posting his sentries, and explaining the reasons why such positions should be occupied and others left alone. It is to be sincerely hoped that long before next Easter the Government will have a well-trained staff of instructors in the colony, who will have had time to teach the various corps the elements of their work before they go into camp. A move in the right direction has been made in the fact that the camps this Easter held at Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch have been at places where the men could be worked over ground intimately connected with the defence of those centres. The officers and men have seen and learnt the features of the country they would have to protect were they called out to meet an invader. 3—H. 9a.

Corps. Officers. Officers. Men. Total.. Canterbury Mounted Eifles Lyttelton Navals E Battery N Battery Engineers Christchurch City Guards... Christchurch College Eifles Christchurch Eifles A. Company Scottish Biiles ... ... Kaiapoi Eifles Eangiora Eifles ... Garrison Band ... Timaru Navals ... ... C Battery Ashburton Eifles... Geraldine Eifles ... Timaru Eifles Waimate Eifles ... Staff ... 1 2 2 8 1 1 2 2 1 3 4 4 8 4 4 7 5 8 6 4 4 7 7 1 7 5 5 5 8 3 3 20 42 32 30 25 21 22 23 18 19 52 29 15 27 35 28 22 36 22 25 52 38 37 33 27 32 31 23 23 62 40 16 35 41 35 30 47 28 11 1 1 2 3 3 3 8 Totals 43 I 105 518 666