The Naval contingent of the _Powerful_ left Ladysmith for England on the 7th, and that of the _Terrible_ left to rejoin their ship on the 11th. The 4.7 guns remain in the hands of the Naval gunners of the _Forte_, _Philomel_, and _Tartar_, under Captain Jones of the _Forte_, but most of the 12-pounders have now been handed over to the 4th Mountain Battery. It seems a great pity that the Naval gunners of the _Terrible_ could not have been spared to finish the campaign. Three months' practice ashore has made them nearly perfect in the management of their guns, and they themselves would be the first to admit that, at any rate in that part of the gunnery that was not learnt on board ship, such as rapidity of fire under their present altered conditions and mobility, they have improved twofold since they first landed. Their rapidity of fire was wonderful when it is remembered that their carriages are fitted with none of the automatic appliances for returning the gun to the firing position, but have to be dragged back every time by hand, and then carefully adjusted with the wheels at exactly the same level. As regards mobility, they have on at least one occasion--namely Zwartz Kop--taken their guns up a place condemned by the Royal Artillery as impossible. All this experience is now to be made no further use of, and the guns pass into the hands of men who will have to learn it afresh. A great advantage the Naval gunners had over the Royal Artillery was their use of the glass. Besides the telescopic sights used with the big guns, they were provided with a large telescope on a tripod, at which an officer was always seated watching the effect of the shells, and, in the case of an advance the movements of our Infantry as well, and they were never guilty, as the Royal Artillery have been more than once, of firing on our own men. On January 24th, whilst the fighting on the top of Spion Kop was taking place, the Naval guns on Mount Alice were able at a distance of rather over four miles clearly to distinguish our men from the Boers, and shell the latter. Compare this with one instance that came under my personal observation on February 27th. An officer in command of a battery was totally unable to distinguish, with a pair of the field-glasses supplied by Government, at a distance of a little over one mile, between our Infantry charging and the Boers running away. I see that your Cape correspondent has already said that in this campaign, where we are perpetually fighting against an invisible foe, good glasses are of paramount importance to the rifle. They are even more essential to the gunners than to the other branches of the service, and they are in this respect most inadequately supplied. * * * * * _Speech of the First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr. Goschen) at Royal Academy Banquet, May 5th, 1900._