Steam communication with the West Indies.—Royal Mail Steampacket Co. incorporated 1841.—Commences with a fleet of fourteen steamers.—Heavy loss of first year’s working.—Generous concession from Government.—Rapid increase of trade.—The “TRENT affair.”—First screw steamers for Company, the TAGUS and MOZELLE.—The TASMANIAN.—Gross tonnage of present fleet.—The Imperial Direct West India Mail Service, Ltd., established 1901. Nine months after the despatch of the first Cunarder from Liverpool to Halifax, the Admiralty accepted a contract from a newly-formed steampacket company, to convey the mails between England, the West Indies, and the Gulf of Mexico. This company, which bore the title of The Royal Mail Steam Packet Co., had an authorised capital of £1,500,000, in fifteen thousand shares of £100 each. It commenced operations on an exceptionally large scale, no less than fourteen large and powerful steamers being at once ordered to be built for the service. The steamers were to be each of 400 horse-power, and to be capable of carrying guns of the largest calibre then in use on H.M. war steamers. Like all other ocean steamers of the period, they were constructed of wood, and were propelled by paddle-wheels. Upon the complete delivery of these vessels to the Company, the contract required one of them to sail twice in each calendar month from England via Corunna and Madeira to the various islands in the West Indies, specified in the contract, and back “to such port in the British Channel as the said Commissioners of the Admiralty shall direct.” The scheme also embraced other places in the West Indies, the Spanish Main, and the United States, for which mails were to be carried. For the performance of these services, the Company was to receive a subsidy at the rate of £240,000 per annum in quarterly payments, the contract to commence on the 1st December, 1841, or if possible earlier, and to continue in force for ten years, subject to twelve months’ notice from either party for its termination. Notwithstanding this large subsidy, the operations of the Company during the first year resulted in a heavy loss, the Directors’ balance-sheet, presented at the first meeting of the shareholders, showing a deficit of £79,790 16s. 8d. Before this meeting was held, one-half of the capital had been paid up, and another call of £10 per share was sanctioned at the meeting; but as it was found that even this was insufficient for the requirements of the Company, the Directors appealed to Government for further assistance. In response to this appeal the Government generously consented to reduce the annual mileage to be traversed by the Company’s ships, which by the original contract was 684,816 miles, to 392,976 miles, without any reduction of the annual subsidy of £240,000. This liberal concession was estimated by the Directors to effect a saving to the Company of £125,000 per annum. Unfortunately during the second year of its