No. 10

I have the honor to inform you that I received from Mr. Young a
request for an extension of his leave of absence which appears to
have been granted to him for one twelvemonth, and to have commenced
from the 14th of May last. At first I hesitated to prolong his
leave, but on receiving from him a further letter dated the 17th
Instant, of which a copy is enclosed, and also obtaining some
explanations given by Mr. Young personally at this Office, I have
been led to consider his application not unreasonable, and have
conveyed to him my sanction for deferring his departure from this
Country until the beginning of May.

I have written to inform Governor Hampton of this extension of
leave, and have expressed to him my wish, that if Mr. Wakeford should
remain at Vancouver Island until Mr. Young's return to relieve him
from the provisional discharge of the duties of Colonial Secretary,
and should then proceed without delay to Western Australia, this
prolongation of his absence from that Colony may be sanctioned under
the peculiar circumstances of the case, and not deprive him of his
appointment in Western Australia.