§ LORD ELCHOasked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether any sum is now available for distribution on account of the Banda and Kirwee 223 Booty; and, if so, what is its amount, and when will it be paid; what amount of Treasure was taken in the Begum Kotee (or "Ladies' Palace") at Luck-now, shortly after the capture of that city by Lord Clyde, and what became of it; and whether there is any objection to produce the Official Correspondence which took place in India on the subject of this Booty?
MR. GRANT DUFFIn reply, Sir, to the noble Lord's first Question, I have to say that no sum is now available for distribution on account of the Banda and Kirwee Booty, but it is possible that when the final account, which the Government of India has been instructed to prepare, is sent in, a small sum may be found available for a last distribution. In reply to his second Question, I have to say that the amount of the treasure found in the Ladies' Palace at Lucknow was £14,000; that treasure having been found after the cessation of hostilities was "treasure trove," not prize, and as such the property of the Government, which, however, gave a quarter of it as a reward to the finders. In reply to his third Question, I have to say that there is no objection to produce the Correspondence if the noble Lord likes to move for it.