§ MR. WILLIAMSONasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether there is any object in continuing to retain a battery of horse artillery in Egypt, since this very costly arm of the Service, during the recent operations in the Soudan, was detained in Cairo performing the duties of orderlies and Commissariat Transport work, on which their very expensive equipment cannot be regarded as advantageously or economically utilised; and, whether a second battery of garrison artillery might not, if necessary, be substituted?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON, in reply, said, it was considered very desirable at present to retain a battery of Horse Artillery at Cairo. Although there were difficulties in employing this arm in the desert of the Soudan, it might be of great service in Lower Egypt, where fodder and water were more easily obtained. A garrison battery, not being mobile, would be no substitute for horse Artillery, and, as a matter of fact, a second garrison battery was recently despatched to Egypt.