Transfer emails from old Mac to new - please help!

Hi friends

I'm switching from an old Mac Mini (OS 10.4.11) to a new one (OS 10.6.8), and want to transfer my emails from the old Mail application (v2.1.3) to the new one (v4.5). My research suggests I should be able to simply transfer the Mail folder in the Library, but this doesn't in fact contain the emails themselves (it has Mail>Account types>com.mac.mailaccounts>English.Iproj + two files, mac.com.tiff and MailAccounts.plist,>a further file ending in .strings). I've tried transferring the Mail folder in case I just wasn't grasping it, and my emails are NOT transferred.

Further digging has suggested they might be in a folder called Mail Downloads, but I can't find such a folder. The emails themselves still exist c/o the Mail programme.

I can transfer the messages by putting them into a folder in Mail and copying that onto the new Mac, but this doesn't get them into the Mail application, so doesn't allow me to sort them, search them, etc - they're just a list of almost identical looking numbered files. All help gratefully received! Thanks.

What I don't understand here is why aren't you using the Migration Assistant to transfer everything from the Tiger installation to the Snow Leopard installation?

I can't relate to Tiger, but Leopard, Snow Leopard, and Lion all contain a Mail folder under your user name.

MacIntosh HD/Users/you/Library/Mail

That folder and its many subfolders contain the mail boxes and associated mail with each MB. All you should have to do is copy that entire folder from Tiger to Snow Leopard. Don't worry about Mail Downloads unless you have attachments that you wish to keep.

Thanks - it looks like you've sorted my problem! It looks like there are TWO Library folders, and each with a Mail folder inside - I was trying the 'wrong' one (Mac HD>Library>Mail). My transfer's still running, but I'm hopeful.

I tried Migration Assistant, but I needed both Macs running, each with a display, and because I'm using the same display (& keyboard & mouse) with the new one, I couldn't do it.

Grateful thanks!