In 1741, Alexander Hamilton, Esq. of Innerwick, was Deputy Postmaster-General, and the establishment, exclusive of letter-carriers, consisted of eight persons, including a Solicitor. In this year there were 106 Post Towns in Scotland, and direct Bags were sent from Edinburgh to Kirkwall and Stornoway.[30] About the year 1750, the Mails began to be conveyed from stage to stage by relays of fresh horses, and different Post-boys, to the principal places in Scotland, but the greater portion of the Mails were still carried by Foot Runners. Before the system of relays was introduced on the north road, the mode of conveying the Mails was very tedious. "For instance, a person set out with the Mail from Edinburgh for Aberdeen; he did not travel a stage, and then deliver the Mail to another Post-boy, but went on to Dundee, where he rested the first night; to Montrose, where he stayed the second, and on the third he arrived at Aberdeen, and as he passed by Kinghorn, it behoved the tide, and sometimes also the weather, to render the time of his arrival more late and uncertain. In this manner the Mail was conveyed 'thrice a-week.' The communication by Post between London and Edinburgh was not much better."[31] The condition of the roads however in Scotland, would not admit of any thing like rapid travelling. The best roads, even in the populous districts, were occasionally to be found in the channels of streams. The common carrier from Edinburgh to Selkirk, 38 miles, required a fortnight for his journey, going and returning. The channel of the river Gala, which for a considerable distance ran parallel with the road, being, when not flooded, the track chosen as the most level and easiest to travel in. Between the principal cities, the means of travelling were little better. It took a day and a-half for the stage coach to travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow.[32] At this period, and for long before, there was a set of single horse "trafficers" (cadgers), that regularly plied between different places. These traffickers, and the carriers, in spite of the laws against them, carried more letters than the Post Office, at least in the country districts.[33] In 1754, the revenue of the General Post Office in Scotland was £8927, and in the year 1757 it amounted to £10,623. In the latter year the Mail was upon the road from London to Edinburgh 87 hours, but from Edinburgh to London 131 hours. At this time, upon a representation from the committee of Royal Burghs, such regulations were adopted, that the time was reduced to 82 hours from London to Edinburgh, and 85 hours from Edinburgh to London. In the year 1760, the revenue of the Post Office in Scotland, amounted to £11,942.