Assistant Chinese Interpreter and Clark at the Magistracy.
I trust that Your Lordship will approve of this man, Mr. Ball, who is the son of an English 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 City, 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 valuable Interpreter.
(attested Copy)
(signed) J. Gardiner Austin, Colonial Secretary Administrator
Page 30
Page 31