as there are no schools in the Colony to which they can be
sent.
Another reason is that the branch of the Colonial service to which I belong provides no possibility of promotion for me.
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5. I am a young man for my age, (46), but if I have to return to Hongkong, and my health again breaks down as it did this time last year, there is no doubt that I shall find it impossible to obtain employment of any kind on my return home, while any pension to which I may be entitled from the Color -ny will be insufficient to support me and my family.
6. But I feel myself fit, in a reasonable cli- -mate, for something considerably more important than my present appointment, where the qualities which I know I possess have but little scope for displaying themselves. On the other hand, the post for which I now apply is in a climate which I know well, ! having served for six years on that station, when in the Navy, without a single day's illness, and it will provide an opportu- -nity for me to prove my worth, and render me eligible for such appointments as I am convinced I am fitted to fill.
7. As to my special qualifications for the post,
I may mention that I am a good French scholar, and a political student: I am tactful, and very even tempered: while my experienc in Hongkong as representative of the Commercial Intelligence Branch of the Board of Trade, by whom I have more than once been
thanked for my work on their behalf, should be of use.
I have the honour to be
Sir,
your most obedient servant
The Under Secretary of State
Colonial Office
Downing Street
Commander R.N.
Harbour Master &c:
(Hongkong).