ABSTRACT
The new mail contract the first made with the Postmaster General was agreed in July 1863 to be effective from January of the following year. The annual payment for the Brazil/River Plate service was marginally increased to 33,500, the contract to run for seven years, although in 1868 it was extended until the end of 1874. Notices in The Times in 1864 confirm the heightened level of competition for cargo and passengers on the services to Brazil and Argentina: Royal Mail advertised its monthly service from Southampton. The Liverpool, Brazil and River Plate Steam Navigation Company Ltd offered a monthly through service to Buenos Aires from Liverpool via Lisbon. Royal Mail's service, as required by contract was by now appreciably slower than that of its competitors, and the Company was obliged to extend its service through to Buenos Aires, perhaps under pressure from the Post Office.
