The demonstration flights, however, showed what could, rather than what should, be done, and what we look for to-day is the inception of practical undertakings, however small, in the various portions of the Empire. The most important of these is the service contemplated between Egypt and India; another instance is afforded by the West Indies, which suffer from the lack of inter-island communications, both for mails and passengers, and this could be partially rectified by an air service employing seaplanes or amphibians for the Leeward and Windward Islands and the Bahamas, and between the Bahamas and the American Continent, where an American company is actually conducting a service. Another project, given up owing to recent disturbances, was one for a flying-boat service on the Nile. Services are also being considered from Malta to Italy, Geraldton to Derby in Western Australia, Sydney to Adelaide and Brisbane, and Melbourne to Hobart in Tasmania. Canadian activity takes the form of work carried out by Government-owned civil machines in connection with forest patrol, photographic survey, exploration, anti-smuggling patrols, etc. It would be a great advantage if railway and steamship companies seriously considered the value of supplementing their services by air. With regard to Government undertakings on the Imperial air routes, Malta is being equipped with an aerodrome, and a line of wireless stations has been established between Egypt and India, but the organization of this route has been delayed owing to the recent disturbances in the Middle East, and the financial outlay involved in ground organization. As I have said, the air route on which we should first concentrate, over and above the Continental services, is that between Egypt and India. Both strategically and commercially it is the most important in the Imperial system; it is a step towards Australia; it offers possibilities of the greatest volume of traffic; it should be much simpler to control than many international routes, which inevitably have many complications; weather conditions are not unfavourable; and the time taken for the journey by sea would be reduced by about one-half. If the shortcomings in point of distance of the continental routes in reaping the full advantages of travel by air, and the importance of the best possible communications for the Empire, are recognized, it is essential that a practical form of assistance should be given in the near future to the conduct of weekly or even bi-weekly services each way between Cairo and Karachi. Although it will not be a commercial proposition for some time, the Egypt-Karachi route, shortening as it will the delivery of mails between England and India by two-thirds, and England and Australia by one-third, offers greater results than the various other schemes at present contemplated. There are, however, certain considerations which will have to be weighed before the immense amount of work necessary to