§ MR. GOURLEYsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for India, If his attention has been called to the statement made by Mr. J. C. Parkinson, in his work recently published on the "Ocean Telegraph to India," that the "Brothers' Islands," in the Red Sea, are inaccurately marked on the Admiralty Charts; and, when it is intended to commence the improved survey of the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez, promised by the First Lord of the Admiralty on the 29th April?
MR. GRANT DUFFSir, my attention was called to this matter by the hon. Member's Question, and the best answer I can give is to read the memorandum which has been sent to me by the Hydrographer of the Admiralty—
In regard to the position of the 'Brothers Islands' in the Red Sea a discrepancy was observed and reported by one of Her Majesty's Indian troopships, and this has lately been verified by the Great Eastern. The chart has, therefore, been corrected, and the usual notice made public. The error, however, was not of a serious nature.On the question of a rectification of the surveys of the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea, Her Majesty's Government has been in communication with the Government of the Emperor of the French with the view to a joint action in the undertaking, and it is hoped that operations will be commenced, as soon as the season will permit, in October or November.