The British Government in 1839 entered into an arrangement with the French Government to send letters to and from India through France by way of Marseilles. The mails were conveyed between Marseilles and Malta by an Admiralty packet, and between Malta and Alexandria by another Admiralty packet. This arrangement did not work satisfactorily, and the Government advertised for tenders for a line of steamers, to run direct from England to Alexandria and _vice versa_, touching only at Gibraltar and Malta. The steamers were to be of sufficient power to perform the voyage in not more than three days beyond the time then occupied in the conveyance of the mails _via_ France, and the cost was not to exceed the amount required for the maintenance of the small and inefficient Admiralty packets then employed. Four competitors tendered for the contract, but that of the Peninsular Company was accepted, it being the lowest (£34,200), and containing also an offer to convey at a reduced rate all officers travelling on the public service, and _bona fide_ Admiralty packages gratuitously. At this time much pressure was brought to bear on the Government to induce it to subsidize a proposed line of steamers between Falmouth and Calcutta _via_ the Cape of Good Hope. These steamers, according to the “Times” of the 11th November, 1838, were to make the passage in thirty days. The GREAT LIVERPOOL, of 1,540 tons and 464 horse power, built by Sir John Tobin, of Liverpool, and intended for the Liverpool and New York trade; and the ORIENTAL, of 1,600 tons and 450 horse power, were the steamers offered by Messrs. Willcox and Anderson, and approved by the Admiralty, to convey mails between England and Alexandria, calling at Gibraltar, and combining the two mail services of the Peninsular and the Oriental, thus constituting the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Subsequently, the company was requested to provide two steamers, one to be not less than 250 horse power, and the other to be 140 horse power, for the Malta and Corfu branch of the mail service, which was done at a cost to the country of £10,712 per annum, less than the cost of maintaining the Admiralty packets previously employed. In September, 1842, the P. & O. Company obtained a contract for carrying the mails between Calcutta and Suez. The contract was granted very reluctantly by the East India Company, and only after much pressure had been brought to bear on it by the Home Government.