1900 SEA POST PORT ELIZABETH TO CAPE TOWN: Envelope franked 4d Hope Seated tied Port Elizabeth squared circle (date indistinct) addressed to Cape Town and endorsed at top left "BY SEA". On reverse cds GPO Cape Town (date indistinct). A rare early example of mail carried on this service. Slight perimeter faults. Accompanied by write-up and correspondence between Messrs Grutter & Cattell. F-VF, very interesting. Ex Grutter.The Post Office Circular No217 of 1st December 1899 allowed for "exchange of letter mails by sea between Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London... Must be endorsed "BY SEA" so ratifying a service that had been in operation since 4th November 1899. The addressee, Charles Hand, was one of the original 10 signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists of Southern Africa in 1932. Although doubtless philatelically inspired, Hand has here provided us with seldom seen a record of this service.
