406
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

service, which shall be sent by or to or from the Post
Office, are agreed to be comprehended), which shall
at any time and from time to time, by the Postmaster-
General for the time being of the said Colony,
hereinafter styled the Postmaster-General, or any of
his officers or agents, be required to be conveyed,
provide, and keep seaworthy, and in complete repair,
for such conveyance, once each way in each calendar
month between Manukau and the Bluff, and between
Auckland and Port Chalmers, a sufficient number of
good, substantial, and efficient steam vessels for the
said services.

2. The vessels to be employed under this agree-
   ment shall be always furnished, while in actual use,
   with all appropriate and necessary machinery,
   engines, apparel, furniture, stores, tackle, boats, fuel,
   lamps, oil for lamps and engines, tallow, provisions,
   anchors, cables, fire pumps, and other proper means
   for extinguishing fire, lightning conductors, charts,
   chronometers, proper nautical instruments, medicines,
   and whatsoever else may be requisite for equipping
   the said vessels, and rendering them constantly
   efficient for the service hereby agreed to be performed;
   and also manned and provided with competent officers,
   and with a sufficient number of efficient engineers,
   and a sufficient crew of able seamen and other men,
   to be in all respects, as to vessels, engines, equip-
   ments, officers, engineers and crew, subject in the
   first instance, and from time to time, and at all times
   afterwards, to the approval of the Postmaster-
   General, or of such other competent person or
   persons as he shall at any time or times, or from
   time to time, authorize to inspect and examine the
   same.

3. From and after the date hereof, and for six
   calendar months thence next ensuing, the said con-
   tractors shall perform one Postal Service monthly
   between Auckland and Port Chalmers via the East
   Coast of New Zealand, according to Time Table to
   be furnished by the Postmaster-General, subject to
   variation of dates as hereinafter mentioned.

4. From and after the date hereof, and for six
   calendar months thence next ensuing, the said con-
   tractors shall perform one Postal Service monthly
   between Manukau and the Bluff, according to Time
   Table to be furnished by the said Postmaster-General,
   subject to variation of dates as hereinafter mentioned.

5. The contractors shall respectively land ship
   and tranship all Her Majesty's Mails at the
   respective ports of call (except at the port of New
   Plymouth) free of charge other than the payments
   hereinafter mentioned, and such respective services
   shall be performed in boats seaworthy and suitable
   for the purpose, furnished with effective covering for
   the Mails, and properly provided, manned, and
   equipped by the contractors to the satisfaction of the
   Postmaster-General or his agent.

6. A chief cabin passage, free of cost either for
   passage or victualling, in each of the steamships
   employed under this contract, shall be provided on
   all occasions when required by the Postmaster-
   General for an officer of the New Zealand Post
   Office; and, also, a safe and proper place of deposit
   for the Mails, to the satisfaction of the said Postmaster-
   General.

7. If there be no Post-office agent in charge of
   the mails forwarded by the said steam vessels, on
   board, the masters of the said steamships shall, with-
   out charge to the Government, take care of, and the
   contractors shall be responsible for, the receipt safe
   custody and delivery of the Mails, according to the
   terms of this contract.

8. The contractors and all commanders and other
   officers of the vessels employed in the performance
   of this agreement, and all agents, seamen, and
   servants of the Company shall at all times punctually

attend to the orders and directions of the Postmaster-
General, his officers or agents, as to the mode, time,
and place of landing, delivering, and receiving of
Mails.

9. The aforesaid steamers shall (weather permitting)
   proceed on their respective voyages from the different
   ports at noon, or as near thereto as the tide will
   permit, on the respective dates mentioned in the Time
   Tables to be furnished by the Postmaster-General,
   or on such other dates or hours as may be fixed as
   hereinafter mentioned, and shall not in their respec-
   tive voyages between the said ports exceed the time
   allowed by the said Tables: Provided always, and it
   shall be lawful for the said Postmaster-General or
   his authorized agent at either of the said ports to
   detain either of the said steamers for the period of
   twenty-four hours without payment, but if notice of
   such detention is not given at least three hours before
   the appointed time for sailing, the contractors shall
   be entitled to payment of a sum of five pounds, and
   the said Postmaster-General or his authorized agent
   at either of the said ports shall have power to detain
   either of the said steamers for such further time as
   he shall think proper, on payment of a bonus of fifty
   pounds per day, not exceeding three days.

10. The sum of fifty pounds shall be paid by the
    contractors to the Postmaster-General if on any
    occasion either of the said steamships shall not sail at
    the appointed time, and an additional sum of fifty
    pounds shall be in like manner paid for every delay
    of twenty-four hours in sailing after the appointed
    time; and the sum of one hundred pounds shall be in
    like manner paid whenever either of the said steam-
    ships shall not call at any port as duly required in
    fulfilment of this agreement, unless prevented from
    doing so by tempestuous weather.

11. By the aforesaid steamers the said Company
    shall provide cabin passages, accommodation and fare
    (exclusive of wine, spirits, and beer) for Members of
    the General Assembly or Officers of the General
    Government at a reduction of twenty per cent. from
    the scale of charges set forth in the schedule hereto
    annexed for each such passenger, when required so
    to do by the Postmaster-General or his authorized
    agent at either of the said ports, but shall not be
    entitled to payment for the same until the expiration
    of fourteen days from and after the termination of
    each such passage.

12. The said Postmaster-General shall be at liberty,
    on reasonable notice, so often as he shall think fit, to
    alter the dates of sailing mentioned in the Time
    Tables hereinbefore alluded to.

13. The contractors shall not assign, underlet or
    dispose of this agreement, or any part thereof, with-
    out the consent of the Postmaster-General, signified
    in writing under his hand or under the hand of the
    Secretary of the Post Office of New Zealand; and
    in case of the same or any part thereof being
    assigned, underlet, or otherwise disposed of, or of
    any gross or habitual breach of this agreement, or
    any covenant matter or thing herein contained, on
    the part of the contractors, their officers, agents or
    servants, and whether there be or be not any penalty
    or sum of money payable by the contractors for any
    breach, it shall be lawful for the Postmaster-General,
    if he shall think fit (and notwithstanding there may or
    may not have been any former breach of this contract),
    by writing under his hand or under the hand of the
    Secretary of the Post Office of New Zealand, to
    determine this agreement without any previous notice
    to the contractors or their agents, nor shall the
    contractors be entitled to any compensation in respect
    of such determination.

14. All sums of money hereinbefore stipulated to
    be forfeited or paid by the contractors, shall be con-
    sidered as stipulated or ascertained damages, and