260 
MOUNTAIN ARTILLERY ESTABLISHMENTS, ETC, 
position as regards Mountain Artillery establishments at home and in 
the colonies, where they are so absolutely weak 
(a.) The present home and colonial establishment of two bat¬ 
teries, to be increased by one battery, by the conversion 
of the Garrison Company at present in Egypt into a Moun¬ 
tain Battery, and the whole of these three batteries to be 
organised in such a manner as to permit of their proceed¬ 
ing on active service at the shortest possible notice. 
( b .) A proportion of men from the Garrison Companies at home 
to be annually put through a course of Mountain Artillery 
duties, and so constitute a reserve of Mountain Artillery¬ 
men, in addition to the ordinary Army Reserve men of 
the branch. 
(c.) The formation of a small training school at Newport to enable 
the provisions of (a) and ( b ) being carried out, and to 
constitute the nucleus of a depot. 
As regards (a). The conversion of the Garrison Company in Egypt 
into a Mountain Battery need not prevent the necessary Garrison 
Artillery duties at Alexandria and Cairo being carried out by the 
battery as at present, and its establishment regulated accordingly. In 
the event of the withdrawal of the British troops at any time from 
Egypt, this battery should be transferred to Malta or Cyprus, but still 
to be available for any Garrison Artillery district duties that might 
be required of it at its station. In Egypt the ordnance transport 
would be possibly mules, or a combination (as in the Egyptian Batteries) 
of mules and camels. Whilst in Egypt the drivers would be Egyptians, 
but in the event of transfer to either Malta or Cyprus the drivers 
would be natives of those islands. 
Four guns of this battery, and the whole battery in Natal, should be 
kept up to a war establishment of transport. The battery at home 
should have sufficient mule transports for the carriage of its “ fighting 
line.” This is now laid down in the new Mountain Artillery Drill-Book, 
1894 (in the Press in India), to comprise the fe gun line ” with an addi¬ 
tional ammunition mule per sub-division, that is 45 mules, a sub-division 
of “ relief line,” i.e. 3 six mules, and for one pair of spare wheels and eleva¬ 
ting gear one mule, or a total of 52 mules : if only a 4-gun establishment 
is to be “ muled,” then 38 suffices. (The spare gun-carriage for a 
battery has long been replaced in India by a pair of spare wheels per 
section, as the former was found unnecessary). On service the additional 
transport and native drivers would be obtained either locally, or speci¬ 
ally, elsewhere. The battery in Natal should have available for its 
transport in war, but not necessarily on battery charge in time of 
peace, a service of wagons capable of conveying its personnel and 
materiel rapidly to the base of operations, the nature of the country in 
Natal making it quite possible to employ wheeled traffic during the 
greater part of the year. The present depot responsibilities of the 
battery at home being lightened, as explained further on, would permit 
of its immediate despatch on active service. 
As regards ( b ). On the completion of the training and despatch of the 
