500
! a ton cheaper than when our letter of the 27th of August last was written and that the Admiralty whom we have consulted on the subject informs us that it has been found by experience that the most satisfactory way of burning Japanese coal is to mix it with Welsh Coal and that the two Coals are now used in H.M.'s Ships in the East in the proportion of Welsh to Japanese.
I may also point out that neither the Hong Kong Government nor the Surveyor General have answered in any way the suggestion made by the Secretary of State in his despatch of the 8th of September last No 46 that most of the articles used in connection with the tunnelling works could almost certainly be obtained cheaper and of better quality by procuring them from us rather than by purchasing them as at present in the local Market and these remarks apply also of course to almost every article used by the Public Works Department in Hong Kong not only for the Water Works but for every other branch of the service.
I have the honour to be, Sir, Your Obedient Servant,
{{Mary}}