Her Majesty's Mails

Letters for nearly all our remaining British colonies, if posted unpaid, either wholly or in part, are, on delivery, charged sixpence each in addition to the ordinary postage. Letters intended to be sent by private ship should, in all cases, have the words "By private ship," or "By ship," distinctly written above the address. The postage of letters forwarded by private ship is sixpence--if the weight does not exceed half an ounce--and the postage must generally be prepaid. Exception is made to most of our North American and African colonies, to which places prepayment by private ship is not compulsory. (See table in the British Postal Guide.) When the route by which a foreign or colonial letter is to go is not marked on the letter, it will be sent by the principal or earliest route. In some cases, the postage paid (provided it be by stamps) is regarded as an indication of the wish of the sender, and the letters are forwarded by the route for which the prepayment is sufficient. Thus, letters for Holland, Denmark, Norway, &c. which, as a rule, are sent viâ Belgium, are sent viâ France, if the prepayment be insufficient for the former, but sufficient for the latter route. North American and Indian Mails.--Letters for passengers on board the Cunard mail packets for America touching at Queenstown, provided they be addressed to the care of the officers in charge of the mails on board such packets, and be registered, may be posted in any part of the United Kingdom up to the time at which registered letters intended for transmission to America by the same packets are received, and they will be delivered on board the packets at Queenstown.