LORD MUSKERRYMy Lords, I beg to ask the noble Lord the First Lord of the Admiralty a question of which I have given him private notice—namely, whether His Majesty's Government have been acquainted of the report of the captain of the P. & O. steamer "India" that, near Cape Roca, he passed a derelict in the track of shipping and a great danger to navigation; and whether, 1260 to avoid the serious risks presented by this derelict, the Government will cause one of His Majesty's ships to be despatched for the purpose of discovering and destroying it. The American Government have fitted out a ship especially for this purpose, and as we have by far the largest number of ships on the sea I think we ought to do some thing of the same kind.
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (LORD TWEEDMOUTH)My Lords, my noble friend takes a laudable interest in everything that pertains to the safety and comfort of British seamen, and I thoroughly applaud him in that. The fact that this derelict has been sighted has been notified to the Admiralty; but I must say that a Committee which considered this question of derelicts came to the conclusion that, except in exceptional circumstances, it was not desirable to send His Majesty's ships in search of them. It is very difficult, to find them; they are shifted about by wind and tide, and very often sink long before they are found. I would also point out that in this particular case the derelict is close to Cape Roca, and it does seem to me that, being so near to the mouth of the Tagus, it might be taken care of by Portuguese rather than by British ships.