mailbox problem

[mike irwin]

hello, i have just installed mutt, and cannot seem to get a mailbox defined.  when i 
launch mutt it tells me that the mailbox i have is not really a mailbox.  in my 
.muttrc i have the following set:

set spoolfile="~/mailbox"
mailboxes !

i have added the file to the right directory, but still nothing.  could anyone point 
me in the right direction here.  thanks for putting up with a newbie.

mike irwin
[EMAIL PROTECTED]