§ MR. MOONTo ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies the cost of the purchase and transport to South Nigeria of a battery of 12-pounders for the Aro expedition, and the carriage of this battery about a thickly-wooded country by some 150 porters.
§ (Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain, for the Secretary of State for the Colonies) No 12-pounders or other artillery were specially purchased and sent to Southern Nigeria for the Aro expedition. The artillery employed in the expedition consisted of eight guns, namely, four 75-millimetre guns and four 7-pounders, all of which form part of the ordinary armament of the Protectorate. No additional cost was incurred by the carriage of guns in the expedition. The establishment of the Southern Nigeria Regiment of the West African Frontier Force includes the necessary number of gun: carriers, who are paid at the rate of a day.