§ * SIR CHARLES DILKE (Gloucestershire, Forest of Dean)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War if he can state what is the present armament of the mountain batteries of the Army; whether the guns are still muzzle-loaders, firing black 1185 powder ammunition; whether one of the two mountain batteries in South Africa has been re-armed with naval guns; and what has become of the other.
§ MR. BRODRICKIt is the case that the guns of the Indian mountain batteries are of an old pattern, that they are muzzle-loaders, and fire black powder. Of the two batteries in South Africa one has been re-armed with heavy guns; the other, which has retained its guns, is in Natal. A new design of mountain gun has been approved, and manufacture is about to begin.