“That from the inquiries he made at the time the York Man-of-war was lost, and pieces of her wreck having drifted ashore upon the opposite and neighbouring coast; and from an attentive consideration of the circumstances which attend the wreck of ships of such dimensions, he thinks it probable that the York must have struck upon the Bell Rock, drifted off, and afterwards sunk in deep water: That he is well acquainted with the situation of the Bell Rock, the yacht belonging to the light-house service, having, on one occasion, been anchored near it for five days, when he had an opportunity of landing upon it every tide: That he has visited most of the light-houses on the coast of England, Wales and Ireland, particularly those of the Eddystone, the Smalls, and the Kilwarlin or South Rock, which are built in situations somewhat similar to the Bell Rock: That at high-water, there is a greater depth on the Bell Rock than on any of these, by several feet: and he is therefore fully of opinion, that a building of stone, upon the principles of the Eddystone light-house, is alone suitable to the peculiar circumstances which attend this rock, and has reported his opinion accordingly to the Commissioners of the Northern Light-houses as far back as the year 1800; and having given the subject all the attention in his power, he has estimated the expence of erecting a building of stone upon it at the sum of L. 42,685, 8s. “Your Committee likewise examined Mr JOHN RENNIE, civil-engineer, who, since the report made to this House in 1803, has visited the Bell Rock, who confirms the particulars in said report, and entertains no doubt of the practicability of erecting a light-house on that rock, is decidedly of opinion that a stone light-house will be the most durable and effectual, and indeed the only kind of building that is suited to this situation: That he has computed the expence of such a building, and, after making every allowance for contingencies, from his own experience of works in the sea, it appears to him that the estimate or expence will amount to L. 41,843, 15s. “It appears further to your Committee, from the accounts presented to this House by the Commissioners of the Northern Light-houses, in the years 1803, 1804, and 1805, that, on an average of these years, the surplus duties arising from the light-houses already erected by that Board, is L. 512:18:8. But your Committee find, that the average of general expenditure for these years has been higher than usual, owing to the erection of additional light-houses, viz. one on the Island of Inchkeith, in the Firth of Forth, and a revolving light upon the Start-Point of Sanday, one of the Orkney Islands, on which there was expended, during these years, about L. 4800, causing an annual extra charge of L. 1600 upon the duties collected in that period.