13

F.—B

10. During the laying the engineer shall be supplied with any information which is in the possession of the contractors which he may require in connection with the operations as quickly as possible, and shall be consulted as to the retarding-strains to be applied to the cable, and all the incidental questions that may arise during the process of paying out or picking up, should the latter become necessary. The engineer shall also have the right of inspecting the charts, log, and observations taken during the laying of the cable, and also of having communication on the business of laying the cable forwarded from the ship to the shore, and vice versa, through the cable at reasonable times while the same is being laid. 11. The contractors shall provide victualling and accommodation for the engineer and his staff (not exceeding in the whole five persons) on board the steamship or steamships during the laying of the cable, and until the return of the expedition. 12. The contractors shall, if requested, be prepared to take on board the said steamship or steamships, and transport and discharge, free of cost, at Fanning Island and Fiji (Suva) respectively such materials and stores as may be required for the building of stations and staff quarters at the respective terminal points of the cable, and also such stores for the provisioning of the staff as may be necessary, but so that the total weight which the contractors may be required to ship, transport, and discharge without extra payment be limited to 300 tons weight. 13. The contracting Governments shall pay in London to the contractors for the works and matters hereby undertaken by the contractors in this part of this schedule the total sum or contract price of £388,358. 14. The said contract price shall be paid at the times, by the instalments, and in the manner following, that is to say,— (a.) £58,253 at such time after the date of these articles as may be convenient to the contracting Governments, but not later than the 31st day of March, 1901. (b.) £38,835 on the engineer's certificate of the manufacture in accordance with these articles of 333 nautical miles of cable, (c.) £38,835 on the engineer's certificate of the manufacture in accordance with these articles of 666 nautical miles of cable. (d.) £38,835 on the engineer's certificate of the manufacture in accordance with these articles of 1,000 nautical miles of cable. (c.) £38,835 on the engineer's certificate of the manufacture in accordance with these articles of 1,333 nautical miles of cable. (/.) £38,835 on the engineer's certificate of the manufacture in accordance with these articles of 1,666 nautical miles of cable. (<?.) £38,835 on the engineer's certificate of the manufacture in accordance with these articles of 2,000 nautical miles of cable. (h.) £29,126 on the engineer's certificate of the manufacture and shipment of the whole of the Fanning Island and Fiji (Suva) cable, and that the same is in accordance with these articles. (i.) £38,835 on the engineer's certificate of the successful laying and completion of the Fanning Island and Fiji (Suva) cable in accordance with these articles. (/.) £29,134 on the engineer's certificate mentioned in clause 16 of this part of this schedule. The engineer shall certify from time to time as to the happening of the event on which the respective instalments of the contract price (other than the moneys payable under head (a) of this clause) are payable. 15. On the completion of the laying of the cable the engineer accompanying the expedition shall examine and test the cable between the respective cable-houses at Fanning Island and Fiji (Suva), and as soon as practicable thereafter telegraph to the engineer in England and write to him the results of his examination and testing, and shall forthwith deliver a copy of the telegram and letter to the contractors' engineer in charge (who is hereby appointed agent of the contractors to receive the same); and upon the receipt by the engineer in England of such telegram or letter he shall give his certificate that the section therein referred to has been successfully laid in accordance with these articles, or shall state in writing his reasons for not giving such certificate, and shall forward a duplicate of such certificate or statement in writing (as the case may be) to the contracting Governments and the contractors respectively. 16. The instalment of the contract price mentioned in clause 14, (j), shall be paid to the contractors upon the certificate of the engineer in England that for thirty consecutive days after the completion of the laying of the cable between the cable-house at Fanning Island and the cablehouse at Fiji (Suva) the same continued in good electrical condition, and that the contract has, as regards such cable, been completed. The contractors during the said period of thirty days shall keep at hand a suitable ship or vessel with approved machinery for such repairs as may possibly be required. For the purpose of testing the laid cable the engineer shall be at liberty as long as the cable remains in good electrical condition to use a battery-power equivalent to 100 volts. Should, however, the cable show signs of electrical defects, all further testing until such defects are removed shall be in the hands of the contractors. 17. Subject to the direction of the engineer, traffic may be worked upon the cable from time to time when the same shall be laid until finally certified under clause 16, and the receipts from working the same shall belong to the contracting Governments, who shall bear the expense of working; but the contractors shall, until such final certificate is given, have full liberty to inspect and examine the cable and its connections and the working and testing thereof, and to test the same at reasonable times under the supervision of the engineer. 18. Any surplus cable remaining out of the lengths specified after the completion of the contract shall belong to the contracting Governments, and shall be delivered and coiled into tanks to be erected by the contracting Governments at Fiji (Suva) or Fanning Island, or into the tanks