would also tend to render them self-supporting. A Code of Regulations was drawn up under his eye, and revised with his own pen] and true to his maxim, that for any piece of hard administrative work 'a "man is required,' he sought out the best officer he could find for the practical reorganisation of the Settlement. He chose a soldier of strong force of character and proved administrative skill, and in the summer of 1871 sent him off with the new Regulations to his task.
'The charge which Major-General —— is about to assume,' wrote Lord Mayo in a Viceregal Note, 'is one of great responsibility. In fact, I scarcely know of any charge under the Government of India which will afford greater scope for ability and energy, or where a greater public service can be performed. I fully expect that under his management the Andamans, Nicobars, and their dependencies, instead of being a heavy drain upon the Government, may at no distant period become self-supporting. The charge of the Colony to the Indian Exchequer has averaged £150,000 a year; each transported felon costs the country more than £1 12s. a month' [the average monthly cost in Bengal jails being then 11s. 5d. per man].
Lord Mayo then points out in detail the means by which he hoped this change would be effected, 'by a proper system of rice and pulse cultivation'; by breeding goats, and a more economical meat supply; by the adoption of jail-manufactured clothing, and
