§ MR. E. ROBERTSON (Dundee)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty if the course outside the Albany Passage, on which Pilot Keating steered the Quetta upon an unknown rock on the 28th February, is the one recommended by the Admiralty; if so, is this recommendation withdrawn; and does the Government intend to take any steps towards making a fresh survey of the Torres Straits north of Rockhampton?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingThe route followed by vessels for many years has been that outside Albany Island, and, as in most cases where waters are only partially surveyed, 512 a line is traced upon the Admiralty chart showing what is considered to be the best course. This line passed one-third of a mile west of the previously unknown rock on which the Quetta struck. The line has now been slightly modified; but the passage, as with the whole of the inner route, must always be dangerous until completely surveyed, and even then until properly lighted. There must be a mistake in the second part of the question, as Rockhampton is a town lying 900 miles from the nearest part of Torres Straits. A marine survey of the inner route to Torres Straits, in which the Quetta rock lies, has been proceeding at the joint expense of the Imperial and Queensland Governments since 1885, and the surveying vessel Paluma will be employed this year in the vicinity of Albany Island.