4.
I have no doubt it is quite corrects; I beg leave here to state that on the 12th October 1844, Mr. Fearon the then General Registrar was written to, instructing him to provide himself with Plans and enter into a Contract with a builder for the exection of the house - premises, as I was so fully occupied I could not attend to it; accordingly Mr. Fearon prepared a plan on a sheet of foolscap paper, and underneath was an agreement from a Chinaman, Assam, to build the house without further stipulations, except that he should be paid in instalments of $1,000 at certain intervals as the work progressed. Upon the first demand for payment, I was required to certify that it was due, and finally, the documents relating to it were so imperfect, I promiced to prepare a regular plan and contract, which were given over to Mr. Fearon who made the Contractor sign them in liew of the original.
The work was proceeded with slowly, that Sir John Davis directed me to take the work in hand; the Attorney General was consulted, and the Contract being broken, on account of non-compliance with its terms, and on the 11th September, 1845, nearly a year after its commencement, I applied in the usual terms for an Overseer for the above purpose, and in addition to which he had the charge of the erection of three other buildings; under such circumstances, I respectfully submit that no blame can be attributable to me for defective or inefficient workmanship.
True Copy,
Signed;
for the Surveyor General.
Colonial Secretary.