SIR WILLIAM GROSSMAN (Portsmouth)asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether all work on the Indian troopship Jumna, in preparation for next trooping season, is to be stopped; whether the other Indian troopships Euphrates, Serapis, Malabar, and 1336 Crocodile are to be still employed on the trooping service, or are to be sold as reported in The Times of the 22nd instant; and, whether it is the intention of the Government to make any change in the port at which troops for and from India now embark and disembark?
THE FIRST LORD (Lord GEORGE HAMILION) (Middlesex, Ealing)It has been decided not to incur the very large expense that would be necessary to put the Jumna into a fit state to take her turn in the relief duties of the next trooping season. The other four Indian troopships—Euphrates, Serapis, Malabar, and Crocodile—are sufficient to carry out the relief service of the next season, and they will be used for this duty. The Admiralty are not aware that there is any intention to change the present ports for embarking and disembarking the troops.