HC Deb 30 April 1877 vol 234 cc108-9
SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs a Question of which he had given him private Notice, Whether he has any information with reference to the regulations issued by the belligerent Powers which may affect the interests and the maritime commerce of England; and, if so, if he can lay it on the Table of the House?

MR. BOURKE

Sir, on hearing that the Russian military authorities intended to stop the navigation of the Danube, Her Majesty's Government directed Her Majesty's Consul at Galatz to telegraph any regulations that might be issued. He has replied that no regulations have been issued, but that all ships were to leave on the 28th, and that Galatz is clear. The British Vice Consul at Sulina telegraphed yesterday that the Russians were at Isotatika and had stopped all navigation upwards without giving notice, and had begun laying torpedoes in the river. No blockade of the Black Sea has yet been proclaimed; but the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs has informed Her Majesty's Ambassador that a declaration with reference to the blockade of the Black Sea and the rights of neutrals will be immediately published. He has advised also that vessels should not attempt to proceed to Galatz, which is now the seat of war, or to Nicolaieff, or other Russian ports. As to the Bosphorus, Mr. Layard has received notice from the Porte—first, that the Dardanelles and Bosphorus are closed, both for entrance and exit, to all steam and sailing vessels from sunset to sunrise; secondly, the lighthouses in these straits, with the exception of the two great lighthouses at the entrance to the Bosphorus in the Black Sea and the two lighthouses of Sedal Bahr and Kolm Kaleh at the Dardanelles, will be extinguished. These may be extinguished by the military authorities. Thirdly, firing of guns and cannons in foggy weather, or an alarm signal is absolutely forbidden. That is all the information we have upon the subject, either with regard to the Danube, the Bosphorus, the Dardanelles, or the Black Sea.

SIR CHARLES W. DILKE

I wish to ask the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Whether it is not the fact that there are a large number of Egyptian troops already on the Danube?

MR. BOURKE

I believe that is the case.