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I should have been glad to leave Mr Smith, who is the most advanced of the Cadets and promises to be a first-rate Chinese scholar, to the uninterrupted study of the language for another six months; but I have not been able to do so, as there was no one else in the employment of the Colonial Government fit for the post, and Mr Sampson, the Superintendent of the West Indian Immigration, to whom I offered the appointment, declined it.
... to Smith has promised that he will, by working early and late, prevent the duties of the Registrar General's office interfering with the prosecution of his studies. Mr D. Lezze considers that he can accomplish this by working in the morning and evening at the written character, while his official employment will afford him ample opportunities of conversing in Chinese during the daytime.
I have no doubt, therefore, that W. Smith will, notwithstanding the additional labour which will devolve upon him, be able to pass his final examination for Interpreter in less than six months.
AMOV.