SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

35

E—No. 2,

enclosed, and also all empty boxes, bags, and packages, and other stores and articles used in carrying on the Post Office service which shall be sent to or from any Post Office ; and no letters, newspapers, or printed papers other than books, shall be carried in any form or manner other than as mails; but this shall not apply to letters from the Contractors to their agents. And for every breach of this stipulation the Contractors shall pay the sum of one hundred pounds as liquidated damages, to be deducted from any sum then or thereafter payable to them under this contract. 28. The Contractors shall provide, to the satisfaction of the Postmaster-General of Victoria and the Postmaster-General of New Zealand, on board all vessels employed under this contract, proper, safe, vermin-proof, and convenient places of deposit for the mails, with locks, keys, and secure fastenings. 29. The Contractors shall also provide, to the satisfaction of the said Postmasters-General, all necessary and suitable accommodation, including fittings and lights, for the purpose of sorting and making up the mails on board the several steam-vessels employed under this contract; and on being required to do so by the said Postmasters-General, or either of them, shall or will, at their own cost, erect or set apart on each of the said vessels a separate and convenient room for such purposes. The master or commander of each of the said vessels shall also, if required, provide assistance for conveying the mails between the mail-room and the sorting-room. 30. If the said Postmasters-General, or either of them, shall think fit to entrust the charge and custody of their respective mails to the master or commander of any vessel to bo employed under this contract, and in all cases where the officer or other person appointed to have charge of the mails, or of the Victorian mails, or of the New Zealand mails, shall be absent to the knowledge of the master or commander of such vessel, such master or commander shall, without any charge other than that herein provided to bo paid to the Contractors, take due care of, and the Contractors shall be responsible for the receipt, safe custody, and delivery of, the said mails. 81. The Contractors shall, at their own expense, deliver and take all mails to and from the Post Office in San Francisco, and shall also at the like expense tranship from one vessel into the other all mails which under this contract are to be transhipped at Auckland, and tho Postmaster-General of Victoria and the Postmaster-General of New Zealand respectively shall cause all mails in Victoria and New Zealand respectively to be delivered at or taken from the vessel's side, and such delivery shall be taken within two hours after arrival at the appointed place of delivery. 32. The Contractors, and all commanding and other officers in charge of the vessels employed under this contract, shall at all times punctually attend to the orders and directions of the said Postmasters-General respectively, and their respective officers or agents, as to the mode, time, and place of landing, delivering, and receiving their respective mails, subject to the special provisions herein contained, and so far as such orders and directions are reasonable and consistent with the safety of the vessels. 33. The Contractors shall have no claim to any postage, nor to any payment on account thereof, for mails carried under this contract, except as herein provided. 34. The Contractors shall provide suitable first-class accommodation for a mail officer or agent in charge of the Victorian mails, and a mail officer or agent in charge of the New Zealand mails respectively, or of two officers or agents, or of one officer or agent, or his assistant, in charge of the joint mails on board each of the vessels employed under this contract, who shall respectively be at liberty to use such accommodation as may be requisite for tho performance of their respective duties; and such officers or agents and assistants shall be victualled by the Contractors, as chief cabin passengers, without charge either for their passages or victualling. 35. Every such mail officer or agent and assistant shall be recognized and treated by the Contractors, their officers and agents, as the agent of the Postmaster-General by whom lie may be appointed, and as having full authority in all cases to require a due and strict performance of this contract: Provided that no such agent, officer, or assistant shall have power to control or interfere with any commander or officer in the performance of his duty ; and every such agent, officer, and assistant shall be subject to all general orders issued by the master or commander for the good order, health, and comfort of the passengers and crew. 36. If either of the said Postmasters-General, or their respective officers or agents, shall at any time deem it requisite for the public service that any vessel should be detained beyond the appointed time of departure, it shall be lawful for either of such Postmasters-General, or such officers or agents, to order such delay—not exceeding forty-eight hours at San Francisco, and not exceeding twenty-four hours at Melbourne or twenty-four hours at any other port —by letter addressed to and delivered to the commander of the vessel, or the person acting as such, or left for him on board the vessel, three hours at least before the hour appointed for departure : Provided that this authority shall not extend to enable the Postmaster-General of New Zealand, his officers or agents, to order any such delay at Melbourne, nor to enable the Postmaster-General of Victoria, his officers or agents, to order any such delay at Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, Wellington, or Hawke's Bay. And in order to insure the due carrying of the mails from San Francisco, the Contractors, without any such notice, shall delay any vessel (if necessary) five days to await the arrival of the English mails from New Tork, and in every such case the number of hours during which such vessel shall be so detained shall be added to the contract time. 37. The Contractors shall have power to assign this contract to a company already or intended to be established by them for the purposes of taking over and carrying out the same ; but this contract, or any part thereof, shall not be otherwise assigned, or underlet or disposed of by the Contractors, or by the company to whom the same may be assigned, without the joint consent in writing of the Postmasters-General first obtained for such purpose: Provided that the assignees shall, at the time of such assignment, enter into a bond with the Postmasters-General similar in all respects to those required to be entered into by the Contractors by this contract. 38. In case this contract is assigned, underlet, or disposed of otherwise than in accordance with the provisions hereinbefore contained, or in case of any great or habitual breach of this agreement, or of any covenant, matter, or thing herein contained, on the part of the Contractors, their officers, agents, or