§ SIR JAMES FERGUSSONI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for 343 Foreign Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government have received information that the Porte has arranged with the Administration des Phares to build and administer four lighthouses off the Arabian coast in the Red Sea; whether the lights in question will be at or near the points at which the want of lights has been for many years recognised by Her Majesty's Government; whether the funds hypothecated by arrangement with the Government of Egypt from the light dues levied by them for the provision of such lights will be applied to the provision and maintenance of the lights designed by the Sublime Porte; and, whether the surplus of Egyptian light dues above mentioned has been accumulated during the long-continued negotiations on this subject, and may be applied to the erection of lights in the Gulf of Aden.
* MR. BEODRICKHer Majesty's Government have been informed that the Porte has arranged with the Administration des Phares for the construction of four lights in the Red Sea: at Mocha, Zebair, Abu All, and Jebel Tir. These lights will be kept up by the Turkish Government, and no new taxes will be levied on shipping on account of them. In these circumstances the ultimate destination of the funds which had been accumulated by the Egyptian Government for this purpose will be a matter for future consideration.