A board game for a race between players as they attempt to follow the nearly 8000 mile route of the overland mail from England to India. Players start their race from Southampton and finish up at Calcutta, after crossing the desert from Cairo to the Red Sea; views along the way include the River Tagus, Gibraltar, Algiers, Malta, Alexandria, Cairo (where the overland section begins the crossing of the sands to Suez) and then on to Calcutta by the Red Sea, Jeddah, Mocha and Ceylon. The game was originally issued with counters and tetotum.
Board consists of two sheets running lengthwise atop one another creating a panoramic view of lithographic images. The continuous strips are mounted on a linen backing to form eight panels which were intended to be used as a board when the sections are unfolded.
The images in the game were based on a series of drawings illustrating noteworthy views along the route of the overland mail from England to India, on exhibit from 1850-1853 at the Illustrated Galley in London. The moving diorama was painted by J. Absolon, T. Grieve, W. Telbin, and J.F. Herring and was also issued in a book entitled: The route of the overland mail to India. London : Atchley, 1850. According to Muir the game may have been sold as a souvenir at the Illustrated Gallery.