Report of Independent Auditors
To the Shareholders and
Board of Directors of
John Hancock Bond Trust
In planning and performing our audits of the financial statements
of John Hancock Government Income Fund, John Hancock High Yield
Bond Fund and John Hancock Intermediate Government Fund (the
three series comprising John Hancock Bond Trust) for the year
ended May 31, 2000, we considered their internal control,
including control activities for safeguarding securities, in
order to determine our auditing procedures for the purpose of
expressing our opinion on the financial statements and to comply
with the requirements of Form N-SAR, not to provide assurance on
internal control.
The management of John Hancock Bond Trust is responsible for
establishing and maintaining internal control. In fulfilling
this responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are
required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of
controls. Generally, controls that are relevant to an audit
pertain to the entity's objective of preparing financial
statements for external purposes that are fairly presented in
conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Those
controls include the safeguarding of assets against unauthorized
acquisition, use or disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in internal control, error or
fraud may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any
evaluation of internal control to future periods is subject to
the risk that it may become inadequate because of changes in
conditions or that the effectiveness of the design and operation
may deteriorate.
Our consideration of internal control would not necessarily
disclose all matters in internal control that might be material
weaknesses under standards established by the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants. A material weakness is a
condition in which the design or operation of one or more of the
internal control components does not reduce to a relatively low
level the risk that misstatements caused by error or fraud in
amounts that would be material in relation to the financial
statements being audited may occur and not be detected within a
timely period by employees in the normal course of performing
their assigned functions. However, we noted no matters involving
internal control and its operation, including controls for
safeguarding securities, that we consider to be material
weaknesses as defined above at May 31, 2000.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of
management, the Board of Directors of John Hancock Bond Trust,
and the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not intended to
be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified
parties.
ERNST & YOUNG LLP
July 7, 2000
