The Yearly journal of trade, ed. by C. Pope

case of all letters forwarded to Canada by British mail packets, and not specially marked "viâ Halifax," making the total charge upon a letter to Canada, not so marked, 8d., not exceeding in weight oz.; 1s. 4d. not exceeding 1 oz.; and so on; but when the letter is marked "viá Halifax," no additional charge will be made. In like manner a French transit rate of 5d. per oz. will be chargeable upon all letters for Malta not specially marked, “viá Southampton, making the total charge upon a letter for Malta, 11d. when under oz. in weight; 1s. 4d. under oz. in weight. Letters for Gibraltar, specially directed, "viá France," will also be liable to a French transit rate of 5d. per oz. in addition to the British rate of 6d. per oz. The combined postage must be paid in advance. The mails for Demarara include Surinam and Cayenne, and the mails for Belize comprise Honduras and, Guatemela. All letters, for Surinam, Cayenne, the states of Honduras or Guatemela, will in future be charged 6d., to be paid in advance. On letters by Canadian mail packets between Liverpool and Quebec, 6d. only will be chargeable.

FLEET IN THE BALTIC.

General Post Office, May, 1854.

Her Majesty's Government having made arrangements for keeping up a weekly communication between the British fleet in the Baltic and the port of Dantsic, by means of a steamvessel to be detached from the fleet for the purpose, mails will hereafter be forwarded weekly to Dantsic for transmission by that vessel. The mails will be made up and despached from London every Tuesday evening, and will be addressed to the care of the British Consul at Danstic, who will deliver them to the naval officer appointed to receive them. All letters upon which the requisite amount of postage has been prepaid will be sent in these mails, unless otherwise addressed. Upon officers' letters the following combined British and foreign rates of postage must be paid in advance, viz. :-not exceeding oz. in weight, Sd.; exceeding oz., and not exceeding 1 oz., 18. 4d.; exceeding 1 oz. and not exceeding 2 oz., 28. 8d.; and so on, according to the scale for charging inland letters. Ordinary soldiers' and seamen's letters, posted in conformity with the usual regulations, may be forwarded via Dantsic, provided a combined British and foreign rate of postage of 5d. be paid in advance. Newspapers cannot be sent by this route. Letters for soldiers and seamen serving in the British fleet in the Baltic may still be forwarded, under the usual regulations, for a postage of 1d., by Her Majesty's ships proceeding from England, but such opportunities will necessarily be uncertain.

EAST INDIES AND MAURITIUS.

General Post Office, April, 1854. The privilege of forwarding printed books through the post to the East Indies, Ceylon, and Mauritius, by way of Egypt, at a low rate of postage, will be again permitted; but, on account of the great difficulty and expense attending the transmission of heavy packets across the Isthmus of Suez, a slight addition will be made to the charge formerly levied on such articles.

Printed books, magazines, reviews, and pamphlets (whether British, colonial, or foreign), transmitted between the United Kingdom and the East Indies, Ceylon, and Mauritius by the overland mail via Southamptom, will, on and from the date abovementioned, be liable to the following rates of postage:

beyond which weight no packet can be sent to the East Indies.

Upon packets sent to Ceylon and Mauritius exceeding 3 lb. in weight 1s. 4d. will be charged for each additional pound or fraction of a pound.

The following conditions must in all cases be observed:

1. Every such packet must be sent without a cover, or in a cover open at the ends or sides.

2. It must contain a single volume only (whether printed book, magazine, review, or pamphlet), the several sheets or parts thereof, when there are more than one, being sewed or bound together.

3. It must not exceed two feet in length, breadth, width, or depth.

4. It must have no writing or marks upon the cover, or its contents, except the name and address of the person to whom it may be sent.

5. The postage must be prepaid in full, by affixing outside the packet or its cover, the proper number of stamps.

If any of the above conditions be violated, the packet must be charged as a letter, and treated as such in all respects.

To prevent any obstacles to the regular transmission of letters, any officer of the Post-office may delay the transmission of any such packet for a period not exceeding 24 hours, from the time at which the same would otherwise have been forwarded by him.

Printed books, magazines, reviews, and pamphlets, transmitted between the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, "via Southampton," will, on and from the same date, be also liable to the foregoing increased scale of charge.

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

Parliamentary proceedings forwarded through the post to Ceylon or Hong Kong will henceforth be subject to the same rates of postage and conditions as printed books; but no alteration will at present be made in the charge upon Parliamentary proceedings sent to the East Indies or Mauritius.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

General Post Office, April, 1854.

In accordance with a request made by the Government of Western Australia, all letters, &c., addressed to that colony will in future be forwarded by private ships, unless specially directed to be sent, via Singapore or by some other route. Letters will be liable to the ship-letter rate of postage, viz. :-8d. for a letter not exceeding oz.; 18. 4d. for a letter exceeding oz. but not exceeding 1 oz. ; 2s. 8d. for a letter exceeding 1 oz. but not exceeding 2 oz.; and so on. Newspapers will be charged Id. each. The postage both on letters and newspapers must be paid in advance. Letters for Western Australia, specially directed to be forwarded via Singapore, will be liable to the packet rate of 1s. when not exceeding 1 oz.; 2s. when exceeding 1⁄2 oz. and not exceeding 1 oz.; 4s. when exceeding 1 oz. and not exceeding 2 oz. ; and so on, which rate must also be prepaid. No postage will be chargeable upon newspapers sent by packet via Singapore.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

General Post Office, April, 1854. The General Screw Steam Shipping Company having abandoned their contract with Her Majesty's Government for the monthly conveyance of mails to and from the Cape of Good Hope and India, the following arrangements will be made for the transmission of the correspondence hitherto conveyed by those packets. The correspondence for India and Ceylon will be sent by the overland route, via Egypt. All letters and newspappers addressed to the Cape of Good Hope, St. Helens, and Ascension will, for the present, be forwarded by private ships as opportunities offer; and such letters and newspapers will be liable to the ship-letter rates of postage, viz., 8d. the half ounce for letters, and Id, each for newspapers, which rates must, in all cases, be paid in advance. The transmission of printed books to Cape Town and St. Helena, at a low rate of postage, is for the present suspended. Letters, &c., for Mauritius also, will for the present be forwarded by private ship, unless specially addressed to be forwarded by the overland mail, in which case they will be left at Ceylon for conveyance to their destination by any opportunity that may offer. By the discontinuance of the Cape packets, mails for the Cape de Verd Islands can be forwarded only once a month, viz., by the Brazil packets leaving Southampton on the 9th of each month.

The Rate of Postage by Private Ships (except those places mentioned in the List), is 8d. not exceeding oz., which must be prepaid. For Newspapers id., or 2d., if to a Foreign Country, The uncertainty as to their date of sailing prevents any notice of private Ships in the following List. Letters at Packet Rates are 1s. not exceeding oz., prepaid.

The shows that pre-payment is necessary; the + that both British and Foreign Postage are included. The § before the Newspaper rate signifies that Newspapers are charged 14d. per half-ounce; other places in Turkey 1d. the paper.

The letter "e" to the column "made up" signifies Evening, the letter "m" Morning.

The despatch in all cases is supposed to be from the GENERAL POST OFFICE, LONDON, Correspondents in Liverpool (for instance) will therefore know that their letters by any Mail sailing from that Port will be in time the following morning.

When the 2nd, 7th, 9th, 17th, and 27th, fall on a Sunday, the Mails for the West Indies, Brazil, and Peninsula are made up on the morning of Monday.

When the 4th, and 20th fall on a Sunday, the Mails for the Mediterranea, India, China, &c., (ria Southampton) are made up on the evening of Saturday.

When the 8th, 23rd, and 24th, fall on a Sunday, the Mails for India, and China, (via Marseilles and West Coast of Africa, are made up on the evening of Monday.

When the 7th, 17th, and 27th fall on a Sunday, the Mails for Malta, (by French Packet via Marseilles are made up on the evening of Saturday.

When the 5th, 15th, and 25th fall on a Sunday, the Mails for Tuscany, Sardinia, and Papal States, (ria Marseilles, by French Packet) are made up on the evening of Saturday.