"دليل بلاد فارس، المجلد I ويشمل محافظات أستراباد، شاهرود-بوستان، خراسان، وسيستان" [ظ‎‎٢‎٣‎٧] (٧٢٢/٤٨١)

There are at present plying from Basrah one weekly steamer to Bombay,-
one fortnightly to England. Ihese call at various
Number of vessels ports in the gulf. An agent recently returned eon-
calling in the gulf. B iders that about 35 European steamers a year, in
addition to the regular services, are now visiting Basrah; the gulf trade m
native vessels is falling away in consequence. A few sailing ships trade
direct with Batavia and the Mauritius j and a considerable number of
American vessels trade in dates, but chiefly with Maskat.
Route 7 —via Muhammarah aud the Karun —This is _a purely Persian
route vid , Muhammarah and the Kamn. Muhammarah is stated by some
authorities to be a much healthier port than Basrah; the largest slnps
can lie off it. The Karun from Muhammarah to Ahwaz is navigable
throughout for ships drawing three feet of water.. At Ahwaz there is a
dam and rapids; but above them the river is again navigable for ships
of the same draught, as far as Shustar by the Karun, and within a few
miles of it by the other channel of the Ab-i-Gargar. A powerful English
steamer was able to pass through the opening when the river was surveyed ;
but ordinary tugs towing could not do this. The river Karkhah, which
by a canal, the Shatt-al-Khud, communicates with the Tigris, may be
considered as a subsidiary waterway of this district. Descriptions of
the course of the Karkhah make no mention of a connection bet ween
it and the Karun ; but some old maps show a canal uniting them.
But by a canal, which some consider might easily be made, or by transfer at
Ahwaz, the river transport might be carried as far as Shustar, a total
distance of 135 miles. The Karun route must always have the advantage
Possible importance of in the supply of Slmstar, Dizful, and the whole of the
the line for purposes of country drained by the Diz, Karun, and nawiza, m-
supply. eluding the Bakhtiari mountains and Luristan; but
its chief importance is, that it is a purely Persian route, independent of
Turkish transit duties, the great Persian rival of the northern routes. At
Karmanshah, in 1875, Captain Napier estimated there was a surplus stock
of 80,000 tons of wheat, which was then selling at 5 shillings per 100
Tabriz maunds (700 lbs.).
The Tihran government and its Russian advisers are well aware of the
commercial and political importance of this route, and
Obstructiveness of the 0 pp 0Se d to its development. The principal Bakhtiari
Tib ran government. Hkhani, a wonderfully enlightened freebooter chief,
and extremely friendly to the English, is desirous of its being opened out;
and offered quite recently to join in the establishment of steamers on the
upper Karun with the local Persian governor, provided
Support promised by t | ie English Agent himself joined, and offered to supply
the Bakhtiari chief. the transport, and guarantee the safety of the caravan
route inland. At resent a steamer only runs as far as Ahwaz. It belongs to
the Muhammarah chief, Haji Jabbar, who,having purchased from the govern
ment the monopoly of carrying all cargo, will not allow native boats to carry
goods on the river. Deplorable as is this instance of the grievance of true
commercial principles which marks the conduct of the Persian government
and the local authorities (the right probably was purchased by a bribe to
some court official), the fact remains that steam traffic has commenced on
the Karun, and it is only necessary to develop it, to strike a severe blow at
fbo inrrpnsincc commercial inliuenee of Russia.