When Canada came into British hands after the capture of Quebec, no postal arrangements existed in the province. The population numbered only some 60,000, excluding the Indians, and with so small a number spread over so vast a territory it was not to be expected that any Post Office establishment of the ordinary type could be maintained.[101] Very soon, however, the English merchants interested in the Canadian trade urged upon the British Government the necessity for a regular service from New York to Quebec, and in this they were supported by the Governor of the province. The Government instructed the Deputy Postmasters-General in America to take steps for the establishment of the post, and they accordingly proceeded to Quebec. There they met a young Scotsman, Hugh Finlay, who offered to conduct a regular post between Quebec and Montreal, undertaking all risks, for a commission of 20 per cent, on all revenue collected on the post,[102] and, in addition, a monopoly of licensing persons to provide horses and conveyances for the use of travellers--the old monopoly which had existed for so long in England as a source of emolument to the postmasters. Finlay contracted for the conveyance of the mail with a number of men, to whom he made over the exclusive right of furnishing travellers on the route. In addition to this privilege, these men, who were styled _maîtres de poste_, were remunerated by payment at the rate of 6d. a league (2d. a mile) for providing horses and carriages for the couriers. Between Quebec and Montreal, a distance of 180 miles, there were twenty-seven _maîtres de poste_ and two post offices, viz., Three Rivers and Berthier. On the whole route, which was not of the easiest, there was not a single inn; there were six ferries to cross, that at Three Rivers being three miles wide, and one near Montreal nearly three-quarters of a mile. There was a service twice a week in each direction, and the journey occupied about forty hours, the courier who left Quebec at five o'clock on Monday afternoon arriving at Montreal on Wednesday morning, and the courier leaving Montreal on Thursday evening reaching Quebec on Saturday morning.