528 CONCLUSION. 



his sole authority ; or might not he be enabled to 

 recommend a certain number of the best men for a 

 small increase upon their regular pay? This ju- 

 dicious exercise of discretion would be the means of 

 retaining in this important branch of the service, a 

 class of men who would become most valuable to 

 their officers when engaged in the arduous and 

 responsible duties of a survey. 



As in the Royal Engineers, a great deal of the 

 superior talent of the officers might be better be- 

 stowed, by abandoning to the petty officers the 

 rougher part of the surveying work, in which calcu- 

 lation is not required. For this purpose, a kind of 

 instruction might be imparted, which that class of 

 men, if encouraged by extra pay, is capable of re- 

 ceiving, particularly those who have had the advan- 

 tage of a Greenwich education. 



To strencrthen the suo'S'estions I have made re- 

 garding the surveying service, I cannot refrain from 

 alluding — and I do so with honest pride — both to 

 the actions in China, and the very recent gallant 

 destruction of the Argentine batteries in the River 

 Parana, as instances of the importance of this branch 

 of the profession in time of war. During peace the 

 new countries that are explored, and the new fields 

 of commerce that are opened to the world, will speak 

 for themselves. 



