'File No. II/8 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re. affairs in Turkish Arabia. Nov '07 --' [‎13v] (26/110)

snail revenue required as guarantee . He argued that
the construction of the second sedtion could not
affect Fritish interests in an w wa w as the w did not
begin before the neighbourhood of Hosul . Ur T raham
told the Ambassador uhat when once nhe G-emans were
over the Taurus the^ night be in a better position tojz^
negotiate with hngland than the w were at present . ihe
Ajobassadot? replied that it would not be possible for
Cfeman w to build the whole line without the help Ox
England .
4 . Hedjaz Railway . On the 17th Novenber , Hr
Farcla^, forwarded to H .11 .'s Govt: a nemo: fron
Hr G . A . Hlo^d , Hon^ : Attache to the Enbass., at
Constantinople, on the progress of the Hedjaz Railway
fc its influence on Arabian politics . Referring to the
obstacles which had to be overcome in construction ,
Hr tlo^d stated that the question of water supply had
so far been the greatst difficulty , that up to llaan
it had been overcone fairly well , but that fronthere
the water problem had become increasingly difficult ,
all attempts to sink wells having failed fc water bei&g
foundonly at very great depths ft then in insufficient
quantities » An additional difficulty related t) tne'
supply of fuel which was not to be had inthat part of
countr ft which had to be transported over the long
line of railway separating Haiffa from the raiilhead.
Further , the duty of providing food ft other supplies
sufficient for the 7,500 men engaged on the construction
work in varying zones resulted in gr at difiiculties
ft hardships for both the engineers ft troops . It was
stated that the country south of Tebouk as far as
lleda'in Saleh , at which place the line was expected
to arrive next year , had already been surveyed by
Houkhtar Fey who had reported favourably on the c untPy ,
but held out little hopes of finding water , As wo r,h^
sup-pl. Of labour , Ur Llo„d stated that , as the Shffiihhs
had become reconciled to the advent of the line > Arabs
were offering themselves in large numbers for employ
■m -n T.
+w a +. the number of troops working on the