I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 95 of the
               
17th August suggesting that the expense of the survey of the Coasts
               of 
British Columbia should be borne by the Imperial Government for
               this and next year.
               
               The Lords Commissioners
of
 of the 
Admiralty to whom your despatch
               was forwarded have expressed an opinion to the effect that as the
               chief work of that Survey is now removed some hundred miles from the
               actual Settlements of the Colony it is really more for the benefit of
               Her Majesty's Ships than for the Commercial purposes of the Colony.
               The have therefore given directions for the expenses of the survey
               and the hire of the "
Beaver" Vessel to be borne by the Imperial
               Government.