"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٤‎٦‎٧] (١٧٨٢/١٦٢٢)

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Sir H. Kawliuson, aud to some extent by the Secretary of State for
India. But it was too late; Colonel Herbert had already agreed with
one Haji Ibrahim for a suitable site and building at Basrah, connected
with the town and new Turkish Government buildings by good roads, on
an annual rent of Rs. 1,200; and on the 30th June 1873 the new d £p6t
was occupied. No attempt was made by the Turks, apparently, to oust
Messrs. Lynch from Magil, which the firm were entitled to own under
the recent law of 1867 legalising the possession by foreigners of
immoveable property in Turkey.
It has been shown that the British Government steamer " Comet"
was dragged by the Turkish Government into the discussions which
took place in 1862-64 regarding the right of the British commercial firm
of Messrs. Lynch & Co. to place a second steamer on the Tigris; and
that in 1864 it was all but decided, in consequence of some misconcep
tion, to admit certain Turkish claims by withdrawing the "Comet"'' from
Mesopotamia altogether.
In 1868 the substitution of a new vessel for the "Comet," which had
been condemned as unsafe so far back as 1862, was reported by the
British Political Agent in Turkish 'Iraq to have become a matter of
great urgency; and the Government of India suggested to Her Majesty's
Government that the consent of the Porte to the proposed step might
besought. This was done; and the Porte, in a note dated 13th July
1869, agreed to "the replacement by another ship of the "Comet/ a
vessel of the Hoyal Navy stationed on the rivers of Mesopotamia/
The question of ways and means then arose ; and it was found that a
new vessel, similar in size toithe " Comet, ' would cost Rs. 61,200 to
purchase and Rs. 3,039 a month to maintain. In February 1870 a
Resolution was recorded by the Governor-General of India in Council
recommending that, as a substitute for the Comet, a small steam
launch worth Rs. 10,000 or 12,000, with an establishment costing
Rs. 6,000 a year at the utmost, would suffice; and copies of this
Resolution were sent to the Marine Department and to the Acting
Political Agent in Turkish 'Iraq. The latter authority earnestly solicited
a reconsideration of the question, urging that the increased number of
Turkish steamers on the Tigris was a strong reason for replacing the
" Comet " by a vessel of equal importance. Colonel Herbert added that
..the Turkish authorities were doing their best to drive the vessels of the
Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company oft" the river, and
pointed out that, if they succeeded in this, the Government vessel attached
The Britifih
Govemment
steamer
" Comet."
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