The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-30 00:00:00

WEEKLY MAILS TO INDIA.

It is known that an improvement will shortly take
place in the India mails, but its extent and the means of
effecting it are not generally understood.
The India mail via Marseilles is now despatched from
London on the 10th and 20th of each month (to be
changed in January in xt, as already arranged, to the
9th and 25th). The mail travels unbroken as far as
Suez, but at Suez it is divided into two portions, which
are forwarded by separate steamers—one proceeding to
Bombay, the other to Calcutta, touching on its way at
Ceylon and Madras.
Nearly the whole of the correspondence for Calcutta
goes by the latter route, but a few letters (probably
duplicates) are occasionally sent vice Bombay, and thence
by the inland mail to Calcutta. This second route, how-
ever, though the shorter of the two, is nearly useless,
owing to the comparative slowness of the island post.
In fact, the letters reach their destination about the
same time, by whichever route they are forwarded.
But it is evident that if the Bombay mail, instead of
leaving England at the same time as the Calcutta mail,
were despatched, say a week earlier, the route via Bom-
bay would become available for a good and effective mail
to Calcutta, reaching that city about the middle of the
interval between► the arrival of her own packets.
This change is about to be accomplished. A (ter the
olose of the present year the Bombay mails will leave
London on the 2d and 17th ; while the Calcutta mails
will, as already announced, be despatched on the 9th and
25th of each month. The homeward mails from Bombay
will also start about a week earlier than at present.
To effect this the only additional service required
beyond that now given is an additional trip to and
fro between Marseilles and Malta twice a month ;
there being already, owing to a large increase of traffic,
two steamers run for each bi-montbly mail between
Malta and Alexandria. Bombay will derive little benefit
from this improvement—none, indeed, except some
facility for communicating with England by electric
telegraph via Madras. But the other two Presidencies
will obtain four mails each way per month, instead of
two ; though at Madras there will necessarily be some
inequality in the intervals of arrivals and departures.

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THE POST-OFFICE AND THE OVERLAND
MAIL.

The Indian and Australian mails left Paris on Satur-
day morning at 9.50 a.m., arrived at Boulogne at 3.10
p.m., left Boulogne at 3.50, arrived at Dover at 6.5, left
Dover at 6.30, arrived at London-bridge at 8.20, and
reached the General Post-office at 8.40. The letters will
not be delivered until this (Monday) mornicg. Our East
India merchants will suffer considerably by thisdetention,
as the receipt of their letters on Saturday evening would
have enabled them to send telegraphic replies viz Trieste
or Malta to overtake the outward Indian mail which
left here on the evening of the 26th instant. Had the
new system been in operation of " working off" the
mails on board the packets, a delivery of the Lon-
don letters would have been effected on Saturday even-
ing. Under the present routine they have slumbered
for 36 hours in St. Martin's-le-Grand. This strongly
illustrates the necessity which we have before, urged of
the Post-office authorities adopting the sane system
with the Indian mails as they have done with those
from Australia. The heavy part of the Australian mails
per Emeu will arrive at Southampton, per Ripon, on
the 3d or 4th Dec. The light portion of the Simla's
mail will be conveyed to Marseilles per Vanguard, and
may be expected to reach London on the 2d Dec. The
Tamar, which left Alexandria on the 24th inst., with
the specie and heavy mails ex Simla, is due at South-
ampton on the Gth Dec.--Daily News*