§ MR. THORBURN (Peebles and Selkirk)I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he is aware that the mail which left London on 13th February last was not delivered in Cyprus until 18th March; whether it 360 was sent from Beyrout to Smyrna, and from Smyrna to Cyprus; whether the same route has been pursued with the mail which left London on 27th February; and whether, looking to the great inconvenience such delay occasions to residents in Cyprus, it is possible to make arrangements for a weekly mail from Egypt to Cyprus?
§ MR. RAIKESComplaints have-already reached me on this subject, and from inquiries made it would seem that the miscarriage of this mail was. due to some mistake connected with the French service, to which it was transferred at Alexandria. I have always considered it extremely desirable to establish a British mail service to Cyprus; but the prospective expense has hitherto deterred Her Majesty's Government from adopting this course.