allowance for consultations between the Judges, and considera-tion and writing judgments. In my calculations I assumed that the Judge of Shanghai would be in Hongkong a full month; but it appears from the Foreign Office letter that "15 days", which may mean only a fortnight, was contemplated as the length of his visit, the journeys from and to Shanghai being probably included in the month.
The time required for the consideration of judgments seems to have been forgotten; but this is a most serious matter. The David Appaal (No. iv) involves a highly intricate question of the law of mortgages; 64 lakhs of dollars are in issue; and the decision affects incidentally almost every important house of business in the Colony, as it will finally determine the relation of Compradores to their employers. I am not exaggerating when I say that the preparation of the judgment could not take less than a week full work: and now a further point has arisen which requires additional argument.
7. I have gone fully into these details in order that the Secretary of State may realize that my advice was given in perfect good faith, and with an accurate apprecia-tion of the necessities of the case. It appears to me un-fortunate that the Foreign Office letter, and I presume there-fore the report made to Sir E. Grey, is based on imperfect information.