instructions which I have directed him to be given for his general guidance in Canton. I may here add that I have just received a letter from the British Legation, stating that Mr. May had arrived there; that he had made a very favourable impression; and that he had set hard to work at his Chinese studies.
Mr. Seccombe Smith, who will probably be required for the Civil Service of Hong Kong for some years to come, should also, in my opinion, and in that of the Executive Council, be sent to the British Legation at Peking, on his arrival here, for one half of his three years' period of study. There would thus be two out of the present and former Cadets acquainted with the official Chinese language, as well as with the local Cantonese dialect. At all events, Mr. Smith ought not (I submit) to be forced to reside at Canton, in the present dangerous situation.