GKEAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



335 



lar army reserve consists of 57,535 officers and 

 men. The militia and yeomanry number 4,498 

 officers and 145,906 men, or in all 150,404, 

 with 14,100 horses; the volunteers, 8,251 offi- 

 cers and 245,866 men, making 254,117 alto- 

 gether. The military police in Ireland is 13,- 

 000 strong. The native army of India num- 

 bers 25,757 officers and 785,191 men, or in all 

 810,948, with 64,243 horses and other animals. 

 There is a military police in India numbering 

 about 190,000 officers and men. The corps of 

 horse artillery which was peculiar to the Brit- 

 ish army was abolished in 1887, with a view 

 of making the army conform more to Conti- 

 nental models, probably by organizing it into 

 two army corps. 



The Navy. The navy consisted in October, 

 1887, of 61 armor-clad vessels, including those in 

 process of construction, about 290 steamers, 

 150 torpedo-boats, and 212 sailing-ships and 

 transports. There were 255 vessels in com- 

 mission. Of these, 132 were stationed on the 

 coasts of the United Kingdom, comprising 5 

 large iron-clads and 1 steamer, forming the 

 Channel squadron, 9 iron-clads and 11 steam- 

 ers in the first reserve, 24 coast-guards, 1 ves- 

 sel on hydrographic service, 9 without orders, 

 4 royal yachts, 23 vessels for port service, and 

 45 school-ships. There were 4 steam cruisers 

 employed as a squadron of instruction. The 

 Mediterranean squadron comprised 6 large 

 iron-clads and 18 other vessels. On the east- 

 ern coast of America were stationed one large 

 iron-clad and 12 other vessels; in Brazilian 

 waters, 4 vessels; on the western coast of 

 America, 8 vessels, including 1 large iron-clad ; 

 in southern and western Africa, 9 vessels; in 

 India and eastern Africa, 11 vessels; in Chinese 

 waters, 21 vessels, including 2 iron-clads; on 

 the Australian station, 1 large iron-clad and 7 

 other vessels ; on hydrographic service abroad, 

 2 vessels. The other vessels in the list are 11 

 transports and 2 cruisers on the return voyage. 

 The 28 iron-clad line-of-battle ships in active 

 service carry 290 guns, and the 160 unarmored 

 steamers carry 790. On July 23 a grand naval 

 review was held at Spithead, in which 114 

 vessels of all descriptions took part. The last 

 previous pageant of the kind took place in 

 1856. The antiquated wooden vessels that 

 were present, such as the "Victory," "St. 

 Vincent." and " Duke of Wellington," took no 

 part in the actual review. The vessels of mod- 

 ern type that passed before the Queen were 9 

 broadside armor-clads, viz., the "Black Prince," 

 "Minataur," " Agincourt," "Hercules," "In- 

 vincible," "Sultan," "Iron Duke," "Shan- 

 non," and "Belleisle"; 15 turret-ships, viz., 

 the "Monarch," "Inflexible," "Edinburgh," 

 "Devastation," "Ajax," "Neptune," "Prince 

 Albert," " Conqueror," "Hydra," "Cyclops," 

 "Gorgon," "Hecate," "Glatton," "Rupert," 

 and " Hotspur " ; 2 barbette-ships, viz., the 

 " Collingwood " and " Imp6rieuse " ; the " Mer- 

 sey," a protected vessel; the "Amphion," 

 " Arethusa," and " Calypso," partially protected 



vessels; 5 unprotected vessels, viz., the "In- 

 constant," a frigate, the " Mercury," a dispatch- 

 vessel, and the "Active," "Volage," and 

 " Rover," corvettes ; 31 gunboats ; and 43 tor- 

 pedo-craft. "While the vessels were assembling, 

 a collision took place between the "Ajax" 

 and "Devastation," followed a few days later 

 by one between the "Aginconrt" and "Black 

 Prince," which revealed the difficulty of ma- 

 noeuvring heavy iron-clads in line of battle in 

 close order without their running each other 

 down. After the review the vessels taking 

 part sailed for various parts of the coast to 

 carry out manoeuvres designed to test the 

 efficiency of the port defenses as well as the 

 offensive power of the navy. The princi- 

 pal test was an attack on a harbor defended 

 by an iron boom and submarine torpedoes, 

 the result of which showed that the huge 

 iron-clads can burst through any obstruction 

 that can be stretched across the mouth of 

 a harbor, but that torpedo-mines are an 

 effective defense. The policy of building 

 monster iron-clads is now condemned by the 

 naval authorities of England as well as of 

 Continental countries. The change in 'the 

 opinions of naval critics in this regard, and 

 still more the faulty administration, antiquated 

 and defective armaments, and wasteful expendi- 

 ture of the large sums that have been voted 

 for the navy, as asserted in Parliament and 

 revealed by official inquiries, have, to some 

 extent, lowered the opinion of the formidable 

 character of the British navy held by Conti- 

 nental nations. Lord Randolph Churchill, who 

 has become the political exponent of the critics 

 of the navy, asserted in a speech, delivered be- 

 fore the naval parade, that the ten millions ster- 

 ling that had been voted for eighteen great ships 

 within a dozen years, in respect to the pur- 

 poses for which the ships were designed, and 

 for which the money was voted, have heen 

 " absolutely misapplied, utterly wasted, and 

 thrown away." A parliamentary inquiry was 

 held regarding the cutlasses and sword-bayo- 

 nets with which the marines are armed, and 

 which bent and proved worthless when put to 

 use in Egypt. The conclusions reached by 

 the committee were that the design was bad, 

 the workmanship unskillful, and the tests to 

 which the weapons were subjected before ac- 

 ceptance altogether inadequate. The " Camp- 

 erdown" and the "Anson"were completed 

 and officially tried in the spring of 1887. On 

 April 9 the " Victoria," the heaviest iron-clad 

 yet launched, and one of the largest in the 

 navy, being 340 feet long and 70 broad, with a 

 displacement of 10,500 tons, was launched nt 

 the Elswick yard. Her armament will include 

 two 110-ton guns. A still larger iron-cl.-id, 

 the "Trafalgar," was launched at Portsmouth 

 on September 20. Her displacement is 11,- 

 940 tons. There are 5.200 tons of steel and 

 iron in her hull. The length is 345 feet, and 

 the breadth 73 feet. The total cost of the 

 vessel and her equipments is about 900,000. 



