No. 30, Military

I have the honor to forward herewith to your Grace by request of
Colonel Moody the copy of a letter he has addressed to me respecting
the selection of a site upon the Island of San Juan for the military
post formed there by Her Majesty's Troops in establishing a joint
occupation of the Island with the Troops of the United States.

2. The circumstances of the case are detailed in the correspondence,
but it may be convenient that I should briefly recapitulate them.

3. When the instructions were received to land a body of Troops upon
the Island of San Juan it became a matter of some consideration as to
where the Military Post should be established, for most of the
desirable spots have been pre-empted by American settlers and of
course the act of landing Troops upon any of these spots would at
once have produced a disturbance. Admiral Baynes despatched Captain Prevost in the Satellite to make a reconnaissance and to report upon
the localities that were suitable and available. His report pointed
to six positions but Admiral Baynes and myself at once agreed that
one spot—the spot ultimately chosen—was pre-eminently suitable.
The other positions were objectionable for general reasons,
contiguity to the United States Camp, difficulty of access, scarcity
of water &ca. However thinking that Colonel Moody might offer a
valuable opinion upon such a matter I forwarded the correspondence to
him and requested him to favor me with his views. He instantly
despatched an officer from British Columbia to Fort Victoria in order that
he might proceed to San Juan to examine the different localities
and furnish a report before Colonel Moody could offer an opinion. I
desired the Officer to wait upon Admiral Baynes but Admiral Baynes
declined his services, in which I perfectly acquiesced. Had we been
seeking a site solely with a strategical vein, the assistance offered
by Colonel Moody would have been very valuable, but as we were above
all things desirous to avoid the appearance of having placed Troops
on the Island with any covert object, I certainly am of opinion that
it would have been unwise for an Engineer Officer to have proceeded
in the first instance to examine the different localities, the more
especially as no actual necessity existed for such an action.