A.-2

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Australian station to visit the Cook Islands. It appears clear that the best course will be to arrange for Her Majesty's ships on the Australian station to visit these islands and deal with questions affecting them; but, in order to enable this to be done, it will be necessary to alter the limits of the station, and, as the present boundaries of the station have been inserted in Schedule I. of " Tha Imperial Defences Act, 1888," it would appear to be doubtful whether they could be altered without legislation. In view, however, of the advantages to the Australasian Colonies which would result from an extension of the present limits so as to include the Cook and other islands to which the provisions of the Pacific Order in Council are to apply, their Lordships are not disposed to object to this alteration, and they would propose that the new limits for jurisdiction under the Order in Council and for the station should be as stated in the accompanying sheet and chart, from which it will be observed that Tahiti would be common to both the Pacific and Australian stations, as the dividingline passes through that island. Panning and Christmas Islands have been left in the Pacific station, it being easier to visit them from the Sandwich Islands than from the Australian station. I am to add that, if the Government of New Zealand will obtain the concurrence of the other colonies in the proposed extension, my Lords will endeavour to procure the necessary amendment of the Imperial Defences Act, should the legal authorities hold this course to be requisite. I am, &c, The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. Evan Macgregoe.

Peoposed Boundaeies of the Austealian Station. North. —From 95° east longitude, by the parallel of 10° south latitude, to 130° east longitude; then north to 2° north latitude, and along that parallel to 130° east longitude; thence north to 12° north latitude, and along that parallel to 160° west longitude; then south to the equator; thence east to the meridian of 149° 30' west longitude. East. —By the meridian of 149° 90' west longitude. South. —By the Antarctic circle. West. —By the meridian of 95° east longitude.

No. 8. (New Zealand, No. 19.) My Loed, — Downing Street, 10th April, 1893. I have the honour to acquaint you that I have been in communication with the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty as regards the wish which has been expressed on the part of several of the Australasian Colonies that the visits of Her Majesty's ships to Australasian ports should be more frequent. It has been pointed out to their Lordships that doubts had arisen whether the arrangements which were arrived at during the Colonial Conference of 1887 had been fully carried out, and that while I recognised the difficulties which cannot but occur in meeting the wishes of the contributing colonies, bearing in mind the number of vessels available and the extended area of the naval station, I felt confident that the Commander-in-Chief on the station would appreciate the importance of making such arrangements as would meet the reasonable desires of those colonies so far as they were compatible with the general requirements of the service. While admitting the amount of work that had been entailed upon Her Majesty's ships in connection with recent annexations in the Pacific, and the declaration of Her Majesty's protectorate over various islands and groups of islands, I observed that there seemed to be a growing disposition on the part of many of the Australian Colonies to consider that the visits of Her Majesty's ships were not so fairly or so frequently made as is desirable, and I expressed the hope that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty would direct the Com-mander-in-Chief, while not interfering with his proper discretion, to do all in his power, consistently with the general requirements of the naval station, to meet the natural wish of the colonies to receive regular visits from the ships of the squadron under his command. I transmit to you copies of three letters which have been received from the Admiralty in reference to my representations, together with a copy of the reply I have caused to be returned to the last of these letters.