'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎411] (430/622)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
411
Captain Jones was at Bombay, where he offered his services to
the Governor, who, however, expressed himself as unable to
avail himself of them, as, by an old regulation, officers must
retire from civil employ on completion of thirty-five years' ser
vice, and he had already sent to Bushire, Colonel Pelly, the
acting Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Zanzibar, a man of great and acknow
ledged ability. Thus Captain Jones' Indian career was brought
to a close, and the Government did not even concede to him a
public notification of approval for his long and meritorious ser
vices extending over a period of thirty-five years.*
The Expedition for laying the marine portion of the Indo-
European telegraph,! a Government line, consisted of a
squadron of steamers and ships,J all the former being under
* Eventually, Captain Jones was awarded compensation equivalent to nine
months of his salary as Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. , but this was barely sufficient to cover
his expenses in proceeding to India and back with his family, and the loss
sustained by the forced sale of the furniture and stock of a large Indian Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. .
Captain Jones has devoted the last years of his life to the service of a Govern
ment which, had he been a Military man or a Civilian, would have recognised
his services by the bestowal of some honorary distinction, and has recently com
pleted a map of Mesopotamia, in which his unrivalled knowledge of that country,
and his beautiful draughtsmanship are displayed.
f In 1863, the Turkish Grovernment constructed a telegraph line which,
leaving the European system at Constantinople, traverses Asia Minor, and passes
through Mosul to Bagdad. In 1864 a line, on iron standards, was erected by
the Indian Government from Bagdad to Fao, near Bussorah, which was sub
sequently transferred to the officials of the Porte. Before the despatch of the
Expedition from Bombay, a land-line, 240 miles in length, had been erected along
the coast from Guadur to Kurrachee by the Government of India. The wire
from Bagdad to Fao, passing through a country where the Turks have little or
no authority, was considered to be the most unsafe portion of the line, and a
supplementary line was constructed by British officers, at the expense of the
Persian Government, from the cable station at Bushire to Teheran, and thence
to Bagdad. This line remained the principal one for telegraphic communication
■with India, until the spring of 1870, when a line was opened between London and
Teheran, and the submarine cable between Suez and Bombay was also opened
on the 6th of March, 1870, that laid in 1859 having failed a few days after com
pletion. An alternative cable to that of 1864 has also been laid from Bushire to
Cape Jask, whence it is continued by land wire to Guadur.
X The following were the steamers and officers of the late Indian Navy, em
ployed in the laying of this cable ' Coromandel/ (headquarter ship) Lieutenant
Gr. O'Brien Carew, commanding. ' Zenobia' {towing the 'Kirkham,' with half the
first section of the cable, 180 miles) the late Lieutenant T. C. R. Carpendale com
manding, first officer, Mr. C. King, late Midshipman An experienced sailor, but not a commissioned officer. , I.N. ' Semiramis,' (towing the
' Marian Moore,' with the second section of the cable, 180 miles) Lieutenant W.
T. Crockett, commanding, first officer, Lieutenant G. Leishman. ' Dalhousie 5
(store-ship), Lieutenant H. Morland, commanding. 'Victoria' (pilot ship)
Lieutenant W. P. Arnot, commanding, first officer. Lieutenant E. Dawes. ' Amber-
witch ' (telegraph ship) Lieutenant A. W. Stiffe, commanding, first officer, Mr.
T. B. Tolputt (late acting-master, I.N., and Sub-Lieutenant Anglo-Chinese Navy).
' Clyde,' (for landing the shore end of the cable), Mr. David White (late Acting-
Master, I N., and Lieutenant Royal Naval Reserve), commanding. The sailing
ships were the 4 Marian Moore' and ' Kirkham,' with the first section of the cable,
that between Guadur, on the Mekran coast, and Cape Mussendom, 360 miles ;
and the ' Tweed,'' Assave,' and ' Cospatrick,' with the second section, that between
Cape Mussendom and Bushire, 400 miles, and the third section between Bushire
and Fao, on the Shatt-ul-Arab, near Bussorah. The first to leave Bombay was
the ' Victoria,' having on board Lieutenants St. John and Pearson, R.E., and