before their arrival in this Harbour, and
'the delivery take place within an
hour
from
the time
of their being landed. It presently the sorting occupies at least
at least four hours - sometimes much longer - and to get through it at all in reasonable time it is necessary to keep up a large P.O. Staff who have then little to do for the remainder of the fortnight. Upon the arrival of the English mail here, mails are made up and dispatched for Japan, Manila,
Macau, and all the
Open
Ports in
China. The English return mail
is also made up in a
few days - seldom more than four - but often,
in consequence of
the late arrival
224
of the incoming mail from Europe, in 24 and 30 hours. Every hour therefore gained in the delivery of the English mail is of immense importance to the mercantile community who have often at those times to work night and day. Great exertions have accordingly been made in our local P.O. to get through the sorting in the shortest possible time; but the European mail
has
now
reached
an enormous
size -
the last filled 113 bags - and
an amount
of
work is thus crowded
into a few hours which it is almost impossible to get through without