§ SIR H. HOWORTH (Salford, S.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government had received through Her Majesty's Agent and Consul General in Cairo, a Report on Nile Reservoirs, in which it is stated that the general view of the Temple of Philæ is poor, though the details are magnificent, that advantage might be taken of this fact to turn the loss of Egypt to gain, and sell the temple in detail to European Museums, that it is not interesting to archaeologists, but only to pleasure-seekers on the Nile; and whether Her Majesty's Agent and Consul General would be instructed to urge upon the Egyptian Government the importance of securing the opinion of competent archæological experts before sanctioning the destruction of this celebrated monument of antiquity?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GREY,) Northumberland, BerwickThe hon. Member has correctly quoted from a Report by Mr. Willcocks, who is in the employment of the Egyptian Government. The opinion of Her Majesty's Agent and Consul General in Egypt on this matter is given at page 19 of Egypt No. 3, 1892. Her Majesty's Government do not consider that they are called upon at the present stage of the question to express any opinion on the various schemes for the storage of Nile water, which are to be considered by a Commission of Specialists at Cairo.