208 TiMEHRI. 



principal villages. The Governor said that if they merely 

 reduced the expenses of the Police for the Overland Mail 

 to Berbice, " they would find the saving all moonshine." 

 The amendment was lost, and the Mail carriages con- 

 tinued running, although they sometimes broke down 

 through the badness of the road. On one occasion the 

 Berbice Mail was overturned into a trench and one of 

 the horses drowned, while minor casualties were quite 

 common. 



The Royal Mail Company suffered many severe losses 

 in its early years. In the latter part ot 1851, the 

 S.S. Demerara was wrecked on her trial trip, and then 

 came the loss of the Amazon, which was such a horrible 

 catastrophe that it sent a thrill through the civilized 

 world. The story of this ill-fated vessel has often been 

 told, but there are a few points which have been ignored 

 by ordinary writers, that were particularly interesting to 

 the friends and fellow-citizens of the lost, and which are 

 worth relating. 



On the 27th of Jannary 1852, the usual " Review for 

 Home Readers" was published in the " Gazette," in 

 anticipation of the Mail, and on the 29th, the Editor 

 called attention to the fa6l that the packet was overdue. 

 He went on to say that the constant detention of the 

 Mails was a serious annoyance, from which he hoped they 

 would soon oe exempted, as it was reported that the 

 Mail after the one then d:e, would be carried to St. 

 Thomas by one of the new, large, swift steamers, the 

 Amazon, which had already proved satisfa6tory on her 

 trial trip. 



No great anxiety was felt as yet, because irregulari- 

 ties had been common, but when the Derwent arrived 



