during the said contract the day for departure from Port Chalmers shall be the sixteenth in lieu of the eighteenth of the month and that the proviso in the last clause that the vessel should in no case depart from Port Chalmers later than three o’clock in the afternoon of the nineteenth of each month shall in every month of February be and apply to the seventeenth day of that month.

5. That the “Aldinga” or such other ship as aforesaid shall in every voyage to and from Melbourne during the continuance of this contract when the state of the weather will permit call at the Bluff Harbour in the Province of Southland and receive and deliver Mails there as may be required by the Postmaster-General and if the state of the weather shall not permit such call to be made then every exertion shall be used to procure such Mails to be delivered or received in such other manner as may be possible or expedient.

6. That the said James M’Meckan and John Hutchison Blackwood shall cause the Mails to be taken from and delivered to the English Mail Steamer in Hobson’s Bay if such steamer be in the said Bay at the time at which the vessel performing this contract may arrive there and shall cause the Mails to be landed or placed in a boat or delivered on board any steamer or vessel in Port Chalmers as the Post Office authorities may direct but if no such direction shall be given or if the English Mail Steamer shall not be in Hobson’s Bay as aforesaid then the Mails shall be forthwith landed and delivered to the Post Office authorities.

7. If the English Mail shall not arrive before the times appointed for the departure of the “Aldinga” or such other vessel as aforesaid the said James M’Meckan and John Hutchison Blackwood shall if required at as early a period thereafter as they conveniently can send the Mails by some other ship belonging to them without making any additional charge or permit such Mails to be forwarded by such ship and in such manner as the Post Office authorities at Melbourne may direct but not at the expense of the said James M’Meckan and John Hutchison Blackwood.

8. That the Mails shall in all cases be kept in a safe dry and commodious place on board the “Aldinga” or such other vessel as aforesaid.

9. That a suitable first-class cabin and first-class maintenance with appropriate bed bedding and furniture shall on each voyage be provided and appropriated for the sole use and accommodation of the officer having charge of the Mails and he shall if required be maintained on board from any time not exceeding twenty-four hours before the ship leaves Melbourne and for a time not exceeding twenty-four hours after she arrives at Melbourne and he shall be conveyed by the said James M’Meckan and John Hutchison Blackwood to and from the shore either with or without Mails at least once on every voyage in each port of departure and arrival.

10. That efficient assistance shall at all and any time or times be given to the officer in charge of the Mails whenever required by him either to stow away the Mails or remove them or any of them during the voyage and in due time to prepare and make ready the same for delivery before arrival at any of the ports aforesaid.

11. That if the said Postmaster-General shall during the continuance of this agreement think fit to entrust the charge and custody of the mails to the master of the vessel to be employed for the time being in the performance of this agreement and in all cases when the officer or other person appointed to have charge of her Majesty’s mails shall be absent the master of such vessel shall take due care of and the said James M’Meckan and John Hutchison Blackwood shall be responsible for the acts and defaults of the Master with regard to the receipt safe custody and delivery of the said Mails and each of such Masters shall make the usual oath or declaration required or which may hereafter be required by the Postmaster-General in such and the like cases and shall receive and deliver all Mails into the hands of the Postmaster of the port or place of destination or into the hands of such other person or persons and at such other place or places as is appointed by these presents for such delivery and the said Master shall furnish a return of the date of receipt and delivery of the Mails and of the arrival and departure of the vessel at each port in such form as the said Postmaster-General of New Zealand may require.

12. That the said James M’Meckan and John Hutchison Blackwood shall in case the “Aldinga” shall become by accident or otherwise unfit to perform the service aforesaid with the necessary accuracy and dispatch but not in any other case substitute for her another steam-ship fit in all respects for the said service and in case the said James M’Meckan and John Hutchison Blackwood shall not find such other fit vessel as aforesaid within two calendar months after the vessel for the time being employed in the said service shall be rendered unfit as aforesaid this contract shall at the option of the Postmaster-General be void and at an end.

13. That in case the “Aldinga” or such other ship or vessel shall not be ready to depart or shall not on the Mails being delivered to her actually depart at the times hereinbefore appointed or any of them or shall be delayed from any cause beyond the time hereinbefore appointed for de-