§ MR. F. S. STEVENSON (Suffolk, Eye)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what is the total number of European gunboats at present stationed at Constantinople; and whether, in view of the possibility of a fanatical outbreak, the Ambassadors have requested or advised the adoption of further precautions?
MR. CURZONThe ships of Her Majesty's Navy now at Constantinople are the Cockatrice, which is on her way to the Danube; the Melita, and the Imogene. We do not know the total number of gunboats there, but it is believed that Austria, France, and Italy have each two, and Germany and Russia one each, making a total in all of 11. Her Majesty's Ambassador reported on the 3rd instant that precautions were being taken by the authorities, in view of the possibility of disturbances occurring during the month of Ramazan.