It has been customary to point to the postage rates of 1660 as lower than any before the nineteenth century. This is true in a general way, but one limitation to the statement is generally overlooked. Before 1696 all posts ran to or from London, and it was not until well on in the eighteenth century that the system of cross posts was introduced. Bristol and Exeter are less than eighty miles apart, but a letter from Bristol to Exeter went to London first and from there to Exeter, travelling about 300 miles to reach a town eighty miles distant. Now by the act of 1660, the rate for distances above 80 miles was 3_d._ Thus the letter paid 3_d._ from Bristol to London and 3_d._ more from London to Exeter, 6_d._ in all. If there had been a direct post from Bristol to Exeter, and there was not until 1698, the postage would have been 2_d._ only. The possibility of such an anomaly as this must be kept in mind in considering the low rates of the seventeenth century. In James the Second's reign, a Post Office had been established in Jamaica, and rates of postage had been settled not only in the island itself but between it and the mother country. This was a new departure, since at that time there were no packet boats to the West Indies. The rate between England and Jamaica was 6_d._ for a single letter, 1_s._ for a double letter, and 2_s._ an ounce. As the Crown was not at the expense of maintaining means of transport, this was a pure tax.[577] In 1704, the postage on a single letter from the West Indies was raised to 7-1/2_d._, for a double letter 15_d._, but Dummer's packets were then in operation.[578] [577] Joyce, p. 78. [578] _Cal. T. P._, 1702-07, 46. _Single letter_ _Double letter_ _Per ounce_ Rates to the islands were 9_d._ 18_d._ 32_d._ In 1705 increased to 15 30 72 Rates from the islands in 1705 18 36 72 --Stow's _London_, bk. v, p.400. In 1698, a system of posts had been established in the American colonies between the largest towns on the Atlantic coast. All that is known about the rates is that the charge for the conveyance of a letter between Boston and New York was 1_s._ and the post went weekly between those places.[579] Hamilton, the deputy manager, proposed that letters from England should be sent in sealed bags entrusted to the masters of ships. The bags were to be handed over to the postmaster of the port where the ship first touched and the captain was to receive a penny for each letter. He advised that the following rates should be adopted:--