472
provisionally employed
as an
Assistant Chinese Interpreter and Clerk at the Magistracy.
I trust that your Lordships will approve of this Vote.
Dev Ball, who is a Missionary, was in the first instance temporarily employed in the Registrar General's Department under the instructions of Sir Arthur Kennedy and was subsequently transferred to the Magistracy.
He possesses a very considerable knowledge of the Canton Colloquial, which he speaks with a perfect accent owing to his earliest years having been spent in that district and is a person of integrity and trustworthiness.
The Government has, on the usual terms, provided him with a Chinese Teacher, and I learn from the Board of Examiners that his progress in Colloquial and the written character is very creditable; so much so that at no distant period there is every reason to hope that he will prove a very valuable Interpreter.
I have the honor &c,
My lord,
Your Lordships' most obedient humble servant
William Marsh
Administrator