In my previous article, I had briefly touched upon disinfection of Indian mails transiting France, initially at Marseilles and then at Malta. In this, I will go into details of the latter.
The Lazaretto at Malta
Malta is a principal island in the center of the Mediterranean. Its harbours have provided shelter and safe anchorage to ships since prehistoric days.
From the middle ages, quarantine was performed there on vessels from West Asia and North Africa destined for Europe.
In 1800, the British took over Malta expelling the French. The lazaretto on Manoel Island, dating back to the 17th century (Figure 1), was much enlarged over the coming decades (Figure 2). Most of the structures, though in a bad way, still stand.
From Marseilles to Malta
Mails coming to France from the East, either through the Red Sea or Persian Gulf, and landing at Marseilles, or any other French port such as Toulon, were disinfected at the lazaretto there.
However, a diplomatic incident led to the examination of the advisability of permitting disinfection of Indian mails at Marseilles.1
In 1835, Captain (later General) Francis Chesney (Figure 3) was commissioned by the British government to explore the overland route via the river Euphrates. Despite an expenditure of £43,000 in the so-called ‘First Chesney Expedition’ of 1836, he failed to demonstrate that navigation up the Euphrates could be done; mails reached three months later than expected.
Though the expedition was officially ordered to be wound up on 31 January 1837, Chesney had already handed over command and left for Bombay arriving 1 December 1836.
He left Bombay again on 28 April 1837 in charge of some important government letters. This is the grossly misnamed (by postal historians) ‘Second Chesney Expedition’. Though he again faced difficulties on the way, he took a couple of French steamers2 from Alexandria to reach Marseilles on 5 July 1837.
After the letters had been disinfected at the Marseilles lazaretto, he wished to hand them over to the Consul of England at that place so that they could be forwarded to the embassy in Paris. But, conforming to regulations, the lazaretto’s attendant handed them over to the French Post Office. Chesney protested and diplomatic mails were exchanged.
Suspecting the French of reading their letters at the lazaretto, English correspondents were initially hesitant on sending their mails via France. However, that pioneer of East-West communications across Egypt, Thomas Waghorn, was keen on the French route to Britain which he thought to be superior to the ‘all-sea’ route between Alexandria and Falmouth. He suggested that disinfection be done in Malta, a British possession.
In a short while, the following procedure was agreed upon:
- Mails would be taken from Alexandria to Malta by a British official who would be present during the disinfection
- Another person, residing at the lazaretto, would take charge carrying them to Marseilles and England
- An agent of the French Post Office would reside at Malta, and would apply the ‘PURIFIE AU LAZARET MALTE’ (‘Purified at the Malta Lazaretto’) mark on all disinfected letters (that is why the wording of this stamp is in French)
Disinfection at Malta
Four disinfection marks are known to have been applied on treated mails at Malta (Figure 4). They let anyone handling the letter down the line know that it had been adequately dealt with against disease.
To summarise the use of these marks (the designations are those of the great French postal historian, Raymond Salles):
- Type 745 was a British seal used in Malta since 1829. It was struck on red wax to reseal open letters which had been fumigated. It has been irregularly seen on letters from the East between December 1837 and 1844.
- Type 746 was used between 25 December 1837 and 1839 and again in 1850. The mark was applied on non-fermented bread dough, which was used to seal the letter.
- Types 747 and 748 were used between 1838 and 1879; use after 1851 is irregular (not seen on Indian mails). Types 747 and 748 are very similar except in size (24/25 mm vs 26 mm) and leaves of the rosette (more distinct in the latter).
- Finally, type 745 was struck by the Malta authorities, whereas types 746-48 were applied by the agent of the French Post Office.
Meyer (1962, p.278), quoting Pichon, suggests that the above-mentioned disinfection procedure was adopted in June 1838. But Salles (1962, p.24) records the first use of the ‘PURIFIE AU LAZARET / MALTA’ (Salles 746) mark on 25 December 1837.3 This, along with the letters discussed below, makes it likely that the process came into effect from late-1837 / early-1838.
Finally, note that letters from India to Britain which went via Alexandria, Malta and Falmouth, and without touching France, were not subject to any disinfection at Malta.
Disinfection by Opening and Resealing
Now, I will discuss different items of postal history beginning with those that were opened for disinfection before being resealed.
Figure 5 is a February 1838 letter from Calcutta to Bordeaux. It was sent to Bombay where it was put on board the East India Company’s (EIC) steamer to Suez.
On arrival at that place, the British consulate arranged the letter to be taken overland across the Egyptian desert to Alexandria. It was put into the French Post Office there. The black double circular date stamp ‘ALEXANDRIE / (EGYPTE)’ of 27 March 1838 is proof of this.
The letter was in Malta for three days between 4 and 7 April 1838. During that time, the Malta lazaretto opened and fumigated it, and then resealed it with red wax; on the rear, one can see the original and new seals. Subsequently, a double oval ‘OPENED & RESEALED / {Crown} / GR / LAZZARETTO OF MALTA’ was applied on the wax itself (Figure 6).
By the way, ‘GR’ is abbreviation for George IV Rex-King. When this was applied, he had been dead eight years and his successor, William IV, about a year; still, its use carried on!
This letter was probably not handled by the French agent as envisaged under the agreed-upon procedure. The English had protested when the French had opened their letters; surely the French would not have be happy when Malta did the same to theirs, as in this example. Further, opening, treating, and resealing letters was a time-consuming and tedious job. No wonder, it came to an end within a few months.
Needless to say, the ‘OPENED & RESEALED’ is rarely found on letters from India.
Another letter from about a month earlier than the previous one is illustrated in Figure 7. It was sent from Pondicherry, the capital of French India, to Bordeaux, France. The sender dispatched it under cover to their Bombay agent, Skinner & Co.
As the agent’s note on the rear attests, it was received by them on 17 January and they posted it on 26 January 1838.
Arriving at Suez, the letter was transported by the British consulate to the French Post Office. From Alexandria, it was sent forward on French steamers.
Again, the letter remained at Malta for three days from 8 to 11 March 1838. Like the previous letter, it was opened and disinfected. But differently, since it was sealed with non-fermented bread dough and not wax. A ‘PURIFIE AU LAZARET / MALTA’ (Figure 8) was impressed upon the dough.
This particular double oval ‘PURIFIE’ handstamp too is rarely found on Indian mails.
Disinfection by Slitting
Figure 9 illustrates a ‘Waghorn’ forwarded letter from July 1838. It was sent from Calcutta to Bombay where it was put on board an EIC steamer to Seuz. On arrival there, Waghorn took charge of transporting it across the Egyptian desert to Alexandria. There he put it into the French Post Office.
By now, the Malta lazaretto had adopted an alternate process. Rather than opening and treating letters, two slits were made, probably with a chisel, to allow chemical gases to enter from both sides and displace any ‘bad air’ (miasma). Afterwards, a double circle ‘PURIFIE AU LAZARET / MALTA’ (Salles 748) was applied (on the rear in this).
Missed being Disinfected
Thousands of letters arriving from the East at Malta would have made it practically impossible for its lazaretto to do a thorough job of treatment. Some letters would have missed being disinfected.
In their letter dated 1 October 1839, the Commissariat of Livorno in Italy complained about the Malta lazaretto to the Sanitary Authorities in Marseilles (emphasis mine):
Common interests urge me to bring the following facts to your notice. Ever since your Government inaugurated mail boats to bring correspondence from the Near East and all letters and despatches have been disinfected at the hospital in Malta, our sanitary administration has on innumerable occasions noticed that this disinfection has not been carried out as farefully (faithfully?) as it should have been in view of the importance of such sanitary measures.
As a matter of fact our administration has noticed on several occasions that apart from the envelopes addressed to the offices being inadequately disinfected, the contents had occasionally not been treated at all.
It is the opinion of our Sanitary Council that these lapses which have occurred in Malta are due to the fact that the procedure adopted with regard to ordinary letters is that they are only perforated. In view of the large quantities of envelopes which have to be disinfected after the arrival of each vessel from the Near East this system can never be satisfactory. It can never match our method which calls for the opening of all ordinary and outsized letters to ensure that they do not contain samples made of susceptible material.
Marseilles passed on this information to the French consul at Malta, who let the locals off the hook:
I have been able to convince myself that the employees have exercised the utmost care when carrying out their allotted task…
Another Waghorn-carried letter from May 1839 is illustrated in Figure 10. From Calcutta, it was addressed to London.
From January 1839, the British Admiralty was operating regular steamers between Alexandria and Marseilles. Letters forwarded by Waghorn were carried by a British steamer from Alexandria to Malta and by a French one from Malta to Marseilles.
At Malta, the letter seems to have escaped disinfection. There are no obvious signs of that – no slits nor any ‘PURIFIE’ stamp.
Impact of Anglo-French Postal Conventions
In May 1839, an Additional Anglo-French Postal Convention was signed; this was made effective 12 August 1839. To avoid the inconvenience of having to disinfect thousands of letters arriving with every sailing, Article VI allowed mails to be sent through France in hermetically closed cases made of plate-iron or tin.
With a view to exempt the correspondence coming from the East Indies from the operation of purification, to which it would otherwise be subjected by the sanitary regulations, the cases destined to contain such correspondence shall be made of plate-iron or tin, and shall be hermetically closed; and they shall not have attached to them any substance considered, according to the sanitary regulations, communicating infection.
4When these boxes were put into use, disinfection of almost all Indian mails at Malta was discontinued; the process had lasted just 20 months.
However, letters arriving at Malta as loose letters or in cloth bags (and not in iron or tin boxes as required by the convention) still had to be disinfected. A few such examples are examined below.
Aden to France
Figure 11 shows a letter from Aden to Paris. It was written in December 1843 by Father Antonio Bonagiunta Foguet of the Servants of Mary to the President of the ‘Central Council of Paris of the Aure of the Propagation of the Faith in favor of the Missions’.5
By this time, a new Anglo-French Postal Convention of 1843 was in effect. Except for some words, Article LXII of the 1843 Convention read the same as Article VI of the 1839 Additional Convention.
Aden was then a small British Indian outpost and there were just a few hundred Europeans there (see note 5). The Aden Post Office likely put the small quantity of letters for Europe in a bag and placed that on board the steamer coming in from Bombay, EIC Victoria. Since such letters did not confirm to Article LXII, they had to be disinfected at Malta.
Two slits and the ‘PUFIRIE’ handstamp can be seen on this; the people at the lazaretto did a through job!
Batavia to France via Singapore
Another letter is illustrated in Figure 12. It was written in Batavia, Dutch East Indies and was destined for Schiedam, Netherlands. Posted towards the end of September or beginning of October 1845, it was sent to the Indian Post Office at Singapore. There it put on board the P&O Braganza, the second sailing on the brand-new ‘China Line’ to Galle.
Since only a few letters from Dutch East Indies transited Singapore for Europe,6 the latter’s Post Office must have been put them in a small bag. Therefore, they had to be disinfected at Malta.
Mauritius to France via Aden
I can show more letters but will avoid duplication. One is dated February 1846 and is from Mauritius to France via Aden (a similar letter is discussed below). Another is from April 1846; posted from Batavia to France, it went via Singapore (something akin was seen earlier). While both carry the ‘PURIFIE’ mark, they have not been slit.
A final letter is illustrated in Figure 13. It was posted at Mauritius in February 1849 and sent to France, not via Ceylon (which is struck off) as first intended, but via the Indian Post Office at Aden. Carriage to Aden was on a private sailing ship and from Aden to Marseilles on packet steamers.
Similar to the 1843 letter from Aden discussed earlier, this too would have been sent in a small bag to Malta, where it was disinfected.
Conclusion
Slits on Indian mails became infrequent after 1845 (Meyer, p.282); if they were not made, one wonders about the effectiveness of any treatment that they underwent. Further, stamps showing disinfection started disappearing in the early 1850s; it seems that letters stopped being disinfected altogether. Meanwhile, a new Anglo-French Accounting Convention of 1856 dropped the necessity of using iron or tin boxes as a sanitary measure.
Even though diseases like cholera continued to kill hundreds of thousands, authorities gave up as an explosion in mail volumes made it impossible for them to do their job.7 Meanwhile, many critics claimed that quarantine and disinfection were mostly useless, and exacted a huge economic cost in terms of lost time and trade.
By the 1880s, the critics had been proved right as the germ theory of disease gained widespread acceptance. Going into the 20th century, disinfection was slowly abandoned. As far as Indian mails are concerned, they were again subject to disinfection in the early 1880s, but in Italy and only for a short while.
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References
Carnévalé-Mauzan, Marino. 1971. “The Disinfection of Letters in Malta.” Translation of the section on Malta in the book La Purification des Lettres en France et a Malte (1960) by Mrs. I. Taussig, The Philatelic Society of Malta Magazine, 3 no. 3.
Giles, D. Hammond. 1989. Catalogue of the Handstruck Postage Stamps of India. London: Christie’s Robson Lowe.
———. 1995. The Hon. E.I.C’s Steamers of 1830 – 1854. Handbook of Indian Philately. London: The India Study Circle for Philately.
Manaugh, Geoff and Nicola Twilley “In the 1500s, Mail Disinfection Was Really, Really Weird”.” The Atlantic, 20 July 2021, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/07/disinfected-mail-history-quarantine/619475.
Meyer, Dr. K.F. 1962. Disinfected Mail. Holton, Kansas: The Gossip Printery, Inc.
Salles, Raymond. 1962. La Poste Maritime Française. Tome II. Les Paquebots de la Méditerranée de 1837 à 1939. (=The French Maritime Post. Volume II. The Ships of the Mediterranean from 1837 to 1939.). Vol. II. IX vols. Encyclopédie de la Poste Maritime Française Historique et Catalogue. Paris: The Author.
Tabeart, Colin. 2002. Admiralty Mediterranean Steam Packets 1830 to 1857. Limassol, Cyprus: James Bendon Ltd.
Tristant, Henri. 1987. Les Lignes Regulières De Paquebots-Poste: Du Levant Et D’Égypte 1837 – 1851. (=The Regular Lines Of Packet-Posts: From the Levant and Egypt 1837 – 1851). Paris: The Author.
Notes
- How mails from/via India came to be disinfected at Malta is well detailed in Meyer (1962, p.276,278). He quotes from an article titled ‘Malte: le “Purifie au Lazaret” ’ by J. Pinchon published in Documentation Philatelique vol 4 no. 15 (April-May 1957). ↩︎
- In May 1837, the French government started operating 10 steamships carrying mails, apart from cargo and passengers, in the Mediterranean. The British Royal Navy too made sporadic voyages between Malta and Marseilles in late-1837 and 1838, before making the service a monthly one in 1839. ↩︎
- Salles records the use of type 746 between 25 December 1837 and 1839 and in 1850, and types 747 and 748 between 1838 and 1851. On the other hand, Meyer (1962, p.281) records the use of the latter two types as between 1838 and 1879. Most letters seen are up to 1850 and use beyond that must have been sporadic.
↩︎ - The idea of such boxes was not new. In the 18th century, Marseilles used strong “perfume” to disinfect letters already treated at Malta. In a letter dated 24 November 1749, the Commissioner of the Public Heath Department at Malta wrote:
In future we shall therefore place our letters in a container for which both the General Agent of our Order in Marseilles and the Secretary of the Grand Master in Malta have a key. This container will be locked and tied with a cord bearing the coat of arms of the Malta Secretariat. When you see the container you will thus know that the letters have not been touched; therefore your perfumes can be diluted and will be less obnoxious. ↩︎ - The text of the letter is in Italian. Father Foguet appraises the President of the situation in Aden, its population (450 Catholics, 600 heretics, and 16000 infidels!), the many languages and the difficulties that the mission faces in communications, the need for a church and school, etc. ↩︎
- Only 125 letters were carried from Batavia to Singapore on Zr. Ms. (Dutch East Indies Royal Navy steamer) Bromo (The Straits Times of 11 November 1845). Not all would have been forwarded to Europe. ↩︎
- Consider the timelines between the arrival and departure of packet steamers at Malta. Initially, letters were in Malta for 2-3 days. Once the admiralty steamers started operations, they docked in Malta for just a few hours. Hence, there was just not enough time for letters to be disinfected. ↩︎
