§ MR. EWARTsaid, he begged to inquire of the First Lord of the Admiralty whether any measures had been adopted for ascertaining that coal, for the purposes of the steam navy, could be procured at Ezakli, on the southern coast of the Euxine, between Constantinople and Trebizond.
§ SIR JAMES GRAHAMsaid, he could assure his hon. Friend that his early and constant and anxious attention had been directed to the subject of providing the necessary supply of coals for the fleet employed in the Black Sea; for, as the House was aware, for the purpose of conducting naval warfare, coals were hardly less es- 1228 sential than gunpowder; and the price of coal in the sea of Marmora was enormous. It appeared that at Ezakli, in the vicinity of the Black Sea—most fortunately for the supply of our fleets and for the cause of Turkish independence—valuable and excellent coal had been found to exist. Sir Edward Boxer had been sent to reside at Constantinople, and was performing the duties of port admiral, and had received instructions, in conjunction with the head of the Turkish Government and the Commissariat, to take the necessary steps for commencing the immediate working of the coal. The House might be assured that neither capital nor skill would be wanting in the prosecution of that work, and he had every reason to believe that for the purposes both of the English and French fleets, an ample supply of coal would be obtained.