§ MR. STANLEY LEIGHTONI beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he can inform the House if the mails to the Mauritius are carried from Marseilles by the French Messageries Maritimes, and whether that company receives a subsidy out of the Colonial Revenues; and, if so, whether the Government, in consideration of the damage which may arise by allowing the direct postal communication between a Colony and the Mother Country to remain solely in foreign hands, will make arrangements by which at least an alternative communication may be kept up by means of British steamers?
§ MR. A. MORLEYMails for Mauritius are carried from Marseilles by the steamers of the Messageries Maritimes; and it is understood that that company receives a subsidy from the Mauritius Government. An alternative service by British steamers running under Imperial and Colonial contracts already exists by way of Colombo. By that line mails for Mauritius are sent from Loudon once in four weeks; and there are other opportunities of sending mails from England to Mauritius by British steamers throughout