The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-25 00:00:00

20
TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION WITH
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20
INDIA.
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TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sin, —Mr. Pioniger, in his letter to you of the 18th
inst., accuses me of not observing good faith, and I
therefore rely on your fairness to admit this my explana-
tion.
I have been always most anxioue to promote the tele- •
graph either by the Red Sea or by any other route to
India, and I readily admit that when I was first
put into conimunication with Mr. Pinniger by Mr.
Andrew, I was willing " that arrangements should
be made to bring the whole support upon one line,
provided I could be sure that the line by the
Euphrates Valley would then be immediately carried
out. The negotiations for the agreement were com-
menced, and for several months carried on with Mr.
Pinniger, under the belief that he was representing the
Euphrates line.
There was a delay of many months in completing the
terms of that agreement, and when it was to be com-
pleted, my friends (I was myself in Russia) learnt with
surprise that instead of my firman having been adopted
by Mr. Andrew, I was to carry out the contract with
Mr. Brett, who represented an Austrian company,
which alone is named in the agreement.
My friends would not have been willing to have broken
off the treaty, and they had a right to do so, but they
desired on my behalf to keep flith with Mr. Pinniger.
fie well knew that during the delay I had obtained a
further firrnan for the line down the Re
Ad Sea, and he
was conscious that (whatever right Mr. Andrew might
have had) the party on whose behalf he was now carry-
ine, out the treaty had no right to stipulate against
mrosecuting the new
so
firman, and he made
y p
no stipulation against my doing The words which
he has partially quoted from thec.ontract restrict me
from competing with any line from any part of the
Turkish dominions in the 'Mediterranean to Egypt ; but
they were worded with care, purposely to leave me free
to carry out the firman for the line through Egypt and
thence to- India.
The precise words of the whole stipulation are as fol-
lows :
Art. 7. " That the said Liontl Gisborne will not assist
in the projection or formation of any other line of tele-
graph from or to any portions of the Ottoman dominions
in the Mediterranean, to or from, or from the
province of Egypt, or vice versa, nor oppose any other
line or to the Ottoman dominions in the Mediterranean,
to the province of Egypt, or vice versa, which may be
projected by the said John Watkins Brett."
The Austrian company could not land their line in
Egypt from Candia, or connect Alexandria with Seleu-
cia, as they propose doing, without holding, the ceded
finnan, as it gives the concessionairethe right of r
pre
venting any lino reaching Egypt from Ottoman domi
nions in the Mediterro.nean.—l
LIO atNEe, &e
L' GISBORNE
Hotel Bristol, Paris, March 21.

ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, GRAY'S-INN-ROAD. - The
number of patients relieved at this hospital during the
week ending 21st March, 1857, is 2,785, of which 1,151
were new cases.
TRADE OF ASTRAKHAN. —According to the Revue
Maritime, of St. Petersburg, 792 vessels entered the port 1:
Astrakhan in the year 1856, of which 142 were small
coasting vessels ; 357 of these vessels were emuloyed to
convey government stores. There is now upon the Cas-
pian Sea, besides the steam boats engaged in the
mili-
tary and postal service, a passenger steamboat, the
R ones Ptavoslavnaja, belonging to the Messrs. Nikol-
ski, and making regular trips between Astrakhan, 1
Bakou, Aetara, and Enzili. 1