GENERAL PEELsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for War, in reference to his statement that the Troops landed from the Megæra, in August, 1863, on the Gold Coast were not intended to wage war against the King of the Ashantees, Whether those Troops had not drawn field allowance before they sailed from Jamaica; and, if so, on what grounds it had been granted to them?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON,in reply, said, the Troops which landed from the Megæra on the Gold Coast from the West Indies had not the field allowance before they left Jamaica. Colonel Conran landed in August, and on the 7th September he acquainted the Home authorities, that as it was probable the troops he had landed under his command would have to take the field, he had sanctioned the issue 153 of the allowance, and also permitted the men to draw it from the day of their embarkation, It was, perhaps, somewhat irregular to do so. There was some little doubt whether the antedating should be permitted, but under all the circumstances of the case it was permitted, and the allowance was drawn from the date of embarkation; and it was not till the 7th September that Colonel Conran informed the War Department that he had sanctioned it.