The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-25 00:00:00

THE BED SEA TELEGRAPH.

EaTithoer fooflltohweiln,gintleestt:_er has been addressed to the
Sir,—l am glen to see that the Times is insisting upon
the paramount importance of establishing electric c_orn-
tman,s p
uinicatuuion euw,s f ithavlonhdi a a
h lwithoute r
tde ol
fa
published, there is no ground whatever for hesitating as
to which line is the most fea,ible. I perceive, neverthe-
less,
r repotyh;e and
Redo Sea thathas been eap-
that Mr. W. P. Andrews sill holds for the route
through Asiatic Turkey and the Persian Gulf, but his
arguments in favour of the one and against the other are
for the most part based upon very erroneous data, as I
shall proceed to point out.
With regard to the comparative length of the two
routes, I readily admit that the proposed Persian
Gulf line is shorter by about 800 miles than that
via the Red Sea—that is, if the distance between
Malta and Alexandria is to be considered as form-
ing part of the latter ; for the distance between
Alexandria and Bombay. or Kurrachee, is about equal
to the distance between Constantinople and Kurrachee,
supposing (as I understand the present project to con-
template) that the route from Cmstantinople as far as
Basra is to follow the Turkish post road. Under these
circumstances it becomes a matter of importance to de•
termine whether the advantages offered by the Red Sea
are sufficient to overbalance this one obvious considera-
tion in favour of the other route.
All doubts respectiug the adaptation of the Red Sea
for a submarine telegraph have been set at rest by the
survey of Captain Pullen, and as no difficulties have
ever been suggested in the. way of its extetelon from
Aden, either to Bombay or Kurrachee, the Red Sea
route as regards feasibility is unquestionably as avail-
able as that through Asiatic Turkey.
But against the former Mr. Andrews argues, that
the Arabs on the coast of the Red Sea are the most
lawless of the inhab tents of the Turkish dominions, and
would have us infer therefrom that the cable, wherever
landed in As course to Aden, would be unsafe. This is
a great mistake. The Arabs of the interior are, indeed,
lawless enough, quite as much so as the Bedouins, whc
inhabit 600 miles of the country through which Mr.
Andrews purposes to carry his telegraph ; and if the
Red Sea scheme involved any such risk I should deem
it as wild as I do his. But, in fact, the entire inhabited
coast is in the bands of the Turk., who have garrisons
located at all the principal ports and towns from Suez
to Mokha. "The ends of the cable, and the persons in
charge of it" would consequently be as safe at Yanbo,
Jiddab, Lobel*, Hodelda, or Mokba, as the wires are
at Stn z, and there is no reason to suppose that the
Porte would offer any objections to a telegraphic station
at either of those places ; on the contrary, I believe its
consent has already been proffered and obtainee.
But it may be found requisite or expedient to avoid
the coast and to occupy some one or more of the islands
between Suez and the Straits of Babel Mandeb ; and this
possibility supplies Mr. Andrews with another objection
against the Red Sea route, as necessitating our taking
"military possession" of those points, and the conse-
quent expense and political embarrassments which such
a ceurse would entail. But all this is pure fancy.
Almost all the available islands are barren and uninha-
bited rocks, and possess no such importance as that
which has been (in a very exaggerated degree) attributed
t a Perim, and, consequently, there is not the least
chance of any obstacle being raised by the Porte to our
occupation of them as simple telegraphic stations. No
garrison would be required for their protection, since the
waters of the Red Sea are as free from piracy as the
River Thames. I have resided in those parts for the last
12 years, and have been tolerably acquainted with the
course of events there, and not one instance of plunder
by sea has occurred during that period ; and now, more-
over, when no less than ten of our steamers traverse that
route every month, such outrages are placed far beyond
' the bounds of probability.
Having thus far disposed cf Mr. Andrews' objections,
I proceed to notice his arguments in favour of the line
• through Asiatic Turkey to Kurrachee by the Persian
' Gulf. That it is shorter by 800 miles I have already
allowed ; but there, I maintain, every shadow of sups-

Again, it may seem to convey some idea of the tem-
per and power of the Arabs, and of the impotence of
the Turkish authorities in tho-e districts to repress their
outrages and exactions, if I inform you that black mail
is levied by them on every boat ascending or descend-
' ing the Tigris. and Euphrates; and, though frequent
cotnplaints on this head have, at the instance of British
merchants at Bagdad, been addressed to the Portt,
the imposition still exists, and will doubtless continue
to exist, for the Porte is powerless to remove it.
Even during the late Persian expedition every boat-
oad of supplies coming from Bagdad was subject to the
same exaction, ands when resisted, the boats were de•
tained until the sum demanded was paid.. Under such
circumstances what chance is there that these really law-
less Arabs will suffer a line of telesraph to traverse their
independent domains? , The projectors of si.ch a scheme
may rest assured that unless they themselves are pre-
pared to provide the protec:ion requisite .(which they
certainly are not), the Arabs about the Euphrates and
Tigris will steal their posts and wires, not so much out
of spite or enmity (though that will not be wanting if
the Turks are known to have any interest in them), as
for the small intrinsic value of such petty booty.
Against the connecting submarine line from Basra to
Kurrachee there is nothing to urge, except, by the way,
the possibility that some other station may be required
whereon to land the cable besides the Indian navy coal-
ing station at Basiadore. That difficulty, however, which
Mr. Andrews makes so much of in the Red Sea he
thinks nothing of in connection with his favourite route
via the Gulf. But why ? one may reasonably ask. Are
any of the islacds in the Persian Gulf more our own than
th, 83 in the Rsd Sea I Are they safer and less exposed
to attack from pirates and freebooters? Or. would a
station in the Red Sea ? Certainly not ; and yet Mr.
Andrews assumes that to be a serious obstacle in the
one case which he p'e.tses to regard rather as an advans
tags in the other.
I hope the above arguments will be fairly weighed,
and if so weighed there can be no doubt which line will
be adopted tfor telegraphic communication with India.
To my own mind, indeed (and I have traversed the Red
Sea six times, travelled over the greater part of Mr.
Andrew's projected route four times, and have had as
much personal experience with Arabs as any English-
man living), the question has been placed beyond dis-
pute siuce the publication of Captain Pulleu's despatch,
and the same convic'ion must force itself upon every
candid inquirer into the advantages of the tso routes
now before the public.—l remain, yours, &0.,
GEORGE PERCY BADGER.
St. Petersburg place, Bayswater, May 24.