to attend to the correspondence, compilation of returns, checking stores, etc.

The specifications for the fittings of troop transports are laid down in the Transport Regulations, and, to expedite the work, it can be assigned to contractors under Government supervision. The stores, horse-stalls, water-tanks, horse-boats, canvas gear for horses, troop bedding, and hammocks are generally kept in hand, and can be despatched to the various ports in which the transports are fitted.

When preparing the ships for the conveyance of the troops, we should not neglect to provide for their speedy disembarkation. Sir William Mends recommended that each infantry transport should be fitted with six commodious accommodation ladders; three on each side, with a good landing at the bottom, fitted with three-inch man ropes to the side stanchion, and not to the rails.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE EMBARKATION.

Part performed by the navy-The Admiralty furnish the moving power-The military staff must see to the order in which the troops embark-Must see that all parts go together-Principles which regulate the despatch of troops by sea for active service-Transport to be allotted to each distinct unitEach unit to embark thoroughly complete-All demands for tonnage to be submitted through a responsible military officer -Stores for each department to go together-To be accompanied by an officer of the department concerned-Care taken in embarking reveals itself at the end of the voyage— Embarkation to be distributed over several ports-Examples of embarkation of cavalry-Several modes of shipping horses -Examples of embarkation of the other arms—Valuable assistance rendered by the navy in embarkations-Rendezvous, example of, in the China war-The movements of the armada supervised by an escorting squadron-A convoying squadron may be required for removing any obstacles in the way of the expedition.

THOUGH the conveyance of troops by sea is a branch of naval administration, it is an error to believe that, for that reason, the navy are principally concerned in all matters connected with the embarkation of a large mass of troops. In every respect the army has as great an interest in the process as the sister service.

VOL. I.

Q

What the navy have principally to do is

(a) To provide transport for the conveyance of the troops, with all that they need.

(b) To look after them when on the high seas. (c) To furnish what is required for putting them ashore.

(d) To pave the way for the disembarkation by the fire of its guns, and to prevent the enemy's fleet from interfering with the landing.

(e) To ensure the provisioning of the troops in the early stage of the operations.

In all this the army must be dependent on the

navy.

The Admiralty furnish the moving power. They have to set about and hire from the mercantile marine the most suitable transports; they have to attend to the fittings required for the accommodation of the men and the animals; to see to the supply of all those necessaries which are indispensable to insure health and comfort on the voyage. As the object in view, nevertheless, is to undertake military operations at the conclusion of the voyage-with a probability of the enemy disputing the landing, or having to be encountered soon after the expeditionary force has got ashoreit must be our endeavour to disembark the troops in the best possible array. The order, therefore, in which the troops are embarked has a special interest for the military staff. As they work out the tables of the expeditionary corps, it is their duty to furnish

the Admiralty with very complete details, so that the transports may be allotted in strict keeping with the intentions of the general commanding, and in accordance with the wants of the military, which we may reasonably presume they understand better than the naval authorities.

The military staff have not only to deliver at the port of embarkation the troops and all that the troops will need on shore, but must also see that all parts go together, and that the sequence in which everything is embarked is in strict keeping with the order of its necessity at the place of disembarkation.

Having accepted the principle referred to in the last chapter, that the most roomy and fastest ships are the most appropriate for the service, and also most economical in the long run, we come to certain rules which now govern the despatch of a large force of all arms by sea for active service abroad.

The units in an embarkation are the battery, the squadron,* the battalion, and to each of these units one or more transports should be allotted. Where there is an excess of accommodation, as often will happen, this excess should be filled up by small sections, and afterwards by details belonging to the same brigade or division.

To be in a position to act at once after landing,

In a small embarkation of cavalry, a regiment can be accommodated in two ships. When, on the other hand, the body of cavalry is numerous, there may be few ships large enough to take more than a squadron.

each artillery, cavalry, and infantry unit should embark entire, and everything which will make the unit complete in itself, officers' chargers, regimental transport, camp equipment, supplies and ammunition, must be put on board with it. To secure the co-operation of the three arms, each large tactical formation should embark in transports which have approximately the same rate of speed, and which are detailed to sail at about the same date.

This latter point not only applies to the combatants but to the concomitant and administrative services, for what would be the good of hastening the departure of the troops were we to neglect to send with them those accessories which make an army a complete instrument? In this case, likewise, care must be taken that the personnel and matériel are embarked together; that is to say, that the officers and men of the Medical Staff Corps shall go in the ships which hold the equipment of the field hospitals and the conveyances required to insure their mobility; that the clerks and issuers of the Army Service Corps (with their implements, scales and weights, stationery, etc.) shall proceed with the supply officers they are attached to; that the telegraph and railway companies of the Royal Engineers shall not be separated from the materials on which their work depends.

Embarkations are sometimes conducted in haste, and, as long as the troops and their stores are sent out with all possible despatch, we do not trouble