I regret that I am not able to give the same information for 1861 as regards the Southampton route; but an Appendix to the Report of a Committee of the House of Commons which sat in 1866 upon the postal and telegraph communications of England with the East, enables me to state them with accuracy for the years 1864 and 1865.

In 1850 the total number of boxes despatched by that route was 1824, or an average of 152 each departure—in other words, each month; for at that time there was only one despatch a month viâ Southampton.

In 1864 the total number of boxes despatched during the year had risen to 16,559, an average of 345 per despatch. The actual weight of these 16,559 boxes was 690 tons, an average of nearly 14½ tons per despatch. If we compute these mails according to the rules by which articles are received on board ships—that is by measurement or bulk—the tonnage was 1,540 tons, or an average per voyage of 32 tons.

The greatest mail carried by any one steamer was by the departure from Southampton of the 20th of April, 1864. There were 1,117 boxes; they weighed 46 tons actual weight, but by measurement they were 99 tons.

In 1865 the total number of boxes despatched was 17,839, being 1,280 more than in 1864. The average per despatch was 372. The actual weight of these 17,839 boxes was 747 tons, an average of a little more than 15½ tons per despatch. Their tonnage by measurement or bulk was 1,660 tons, or an average per voyage of 35 tons. The greatest mail carried by any one steamer was by the departure from Southampton of the 20th of November. There were 1,207 boxes; they weighed 49¾ tons actual weight; but by measurement, 106½ tons. The mail despatched on the 20th of each month is, of course, invariably the heaviest, containing as it does the Australian mail, which mail usually consists of about six times as many boxes as are despatched to Egypt, India, China, and Japan combined. The mail despatched on the 27th of each month is invariably the lightest; the mail despatched on the 12th is the second lightest; next comes in weight the mail despatched on the 4th.

I was favoured last month with official returns, which give the number of boxes despatched outwards, both viâ Marseilles and viâ Southampton, during the months of January, February and March of this present year, and the same information as regards mails received inwards. As these returns give the latest information respecting the mails conveyed by both routes, I send you the following very full compilation of them.

Number of boxes of Eastern mails despatched from and received at London during the first three months of 1867:-

Viâ SOUTHAMPTON.

Date of
Despatch
Outwards.		India,
China, and
Mediterranean.		Australia.Date of
Arrival
Mediterranean.		India,
China, and
Mediterranean.		Australia.
Jan.4213..Jan.10213..
”12169..”1830475
”20233709”2620..
”2680..Feb.227..
Feb.4248..”1124..
”1292..”1631448
”20232762”2424..
”2780..March827..
March4199..”827..
”1297..”2135463
”20184800”2823..
”2756..........