§ COLONEL ARBUTHNOTasked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Where the dock is situated for which a loan of £12,000 was made to the Whampoa Dock Company; what was the date of the above loan; when was the dock completed for which the loan was made; what are the dimensions of the dock; and, whether it has been used by any, and, if so, by how many vessels of war?
§ MR. W. H. SMITHThe dock is in Aberdeen Bay, Hong Kong. The first loan of £6,000 was made on the 11th of February, 1864, and the second loan of the same amount on the 29th of March, 1866. The loans were confirmed under the 15th Clause of the Colonial Docks (Loans) Act of 1865. The dock was completed early in 1867; the exact date is not known. The extreme length on blocks is 433 feet, the breadth at the entrance is 84 feet, the depth over the sill at ordinary spring tide is 24 feet. The exact number of vessels entering the dock cannot be given; but the dock has been extensively used, and the largest iron-clad—The Iron Duke—has been docked. The Kowloon Docks—the only other docks at Hong Kong—were not built until after the Aberdeen Docks, and even now can only take in vessels of small draught of water.