Mss Eur F699/1/1/1/3/7

States that on receipt of the Despatch of the Supreme Government the Court acted instantly, and proposed to supply 2 ensigns to each Regiment; but the Board has not yet replied. It will take at least 6 months to send out the ensigns, because of the stringent examination that each cadet will have to pass. The rank of Captain appears to be the one that will eventually be augmented, as it is Captains who are most often sent on detached employment. The papers about the Madras pier go out by the present mail, an alteration has had to be made, requiring that the whole of the Coromandel coast should be examined for the best place for the pier. By the present mail also are going out tables of mortality in all the jails of India, for 10 years; comments. A Despatch has been drafted on a comprehensive system of Police for India. There is confusion in the House of Commons about a private Bill called the 'Nawab of Surat Treaty Bill'; its effect is likely to be troublesome. Sykes always thought that Lord Ellenborough was wrong in making the pension lapse with the title, the Court has come round to his view, and directed the Bombay Government to allot the whole pension to the heirs. An answer has been drafted to the Government of India's Financial Despatch. The balance due from India of the previous year's remittance will not be called for, as the Court has more than 3½ million sterling in their Treasury. Comments on Railway and merchant finance in India, and the rate of exchange. The opening of a new Loan is not anticipated in the Financial Despatch. Reports the poor health of General [James] Outram and General Low.

Received 1 Aug