No. 16

1. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
Despatch No 9 of the 2nd September,

and have to thank you
for transmitting a copy of a correspondence between the Treasury
and the Colonial Office on the subject of the Postal arrangements
between England and British Columbia, a subject deeply interesting
to every person connected with this
country.

2. I observe by that correspondence that it was proposed
to extend the present mail service by the way of Halifax and
Nassau to
Colon,

at a probable expense of £25,000 per annum,
apparently with the view of facilitating postal communication
between Vancouver's Island and Canada; already accomplished via
New York.

3. From Panama to Victoria, Her Majesty's Government would
be inclined to establish a line of British Postal Steamers but
for the great expense say £100,000.

For the present therefore, it is proposed to enter into
arrangements with the Postmaster of the United States for the
carrying of mails from Panama to San Francisco, and to invite
tenders for their conveyance thence to this place; not being
aware probably that the mails are already conveyed to Pugets
Sound and this place by the United States Mail Steamers.

It is also proposed to request the Postmaster of the United
States to re-consider the time of departure of the United States
Mail Steamers from Panama so as to suit the Royal Mail Company's
Steamers.

4. By existing arrangements we receive our mails once a
fortnight and have not much reason to complain. From England
to Colon two routes are open, vizt via New
York,

and by the
Royal Mail line. The former is the more certain of the two
for letters, and the one generally adopted by business men, as
it connects with the line between Panama and San Francisco. The
last named could hardly alter their periods of departure without
confusion on the Atlantic side.

If Her Majesty's Government carry out their views and establish
a line from Nassau, we should thus have three lines arriving at
Colon. As there will probably, be a weekly line soon from Panama
northwards, there would appear to be little gain by interfering
with present arrangements between San Francisco and New York,
Canada and England.

5. A detention of sometimes a week occurs at San Francisco,
not necessarily but from want of arrangement on the part of the
American Authorities. The Steamer conveying the mail northward
frequently calls at the Columbia River, where she is liable to
detention, and also frequently does not deliver our Mail till her
return voyage from Olympia at the head of Puget's Sound, occasioning
a loss of two days, and giving us no time to reply to letters
received by the same mail.

6. The only detention and irregularity therefore which we
would wish to see remedied lie between San Francisco and this place,
and this could easily be effected by an arrangement with the
Pacific Mail
Company,

or perhaps by the preferable mode of
inviting tenders for the service.

7. It would be advisable to stipulate, in any such arrangement
that the Steamer leave San Francisco for Victoria direct within
12 hours after departure *

of the Atlantic Mail at San Francisco,
and leave Victoria on her return trip to San Francisco, in time to
overtake the next succeeding mail. The voyage either way ought to
be performed in about four days, thus allowing six days to reply
to letters from Europe.

8. When the resources of the Colony are more fully developed,
a line of British Postal Steamers from Panama to Victoria would
be the most satisfactory and advantageous to British interests in
this part of the world. This line might touch at San Francisco
and Ports in Mexico, from whence treasure is largely exported, in
all of which there are large British interests and between which
there is a large passenger traffic.

9. Trusting that those remarks may not be found irrelevant,