The Settlement of the Persia-Baluchistan Frontier [‎589r] (15/40)

Enclosure No. 16.
No. 188, dated London, 6th October 1871.
From— Major-General F. J. Goldsmid, on special duty,
To—C. U. Aitchison, Esq., C.S.I., Secy, to Govt, of India, Foreign Dept., with G.-G.
With reference to my telegram of the 4th ultimo from Teheran, I have the
honor to report my departure from that city on the 5th September, from Resht
on the 8th, from Astrakhan on the 18th, and my arrival in London on the 26th
idem. On the 27th I requested Her Majesty’s Minister in Persia, by telegraph,
to inform His Excellency the Viceroy of my movements. The date of my
departure for Seistan will be communicated in like manner to your address, so
soon as definitely arranged.
Accompanying is the copy of my proposed instructions to Captain St. John
in case I should not already have submitted this information in the hurry of
leaving Persia.
No. 186, dated Gulahek, near Teheran, 4th September 1871.
From— Major-General F. J. Goldsmid, on special mission.
As you have expressed your readiness to undertake the definition in detail
of the Perso-Khelat Erontier, agreed upon by Her Majesty’s Government and
the Government of Persia, I take the opportunity afforded me by a day’s further
detention at Teheran to place in your hands a letter of sealed instructions for
your guidance in carrying out the above object.
2. You will have been informed that this packet is to he opened or
returned according to the purport of a telegram to he addressed to you by the
Government of India or myself. The following paragraphs are written on the
former hypothesis.
3. Enclosure A. consists of the papers marginally noted. Erom these
1. Extract letter and memorandum from VOU will gather the actual boundary by dis-
myseifttoMr.Aw^ddress, Xo. 140, tricts, which have been agreed to by the powers
2. Extrac^Uom^note of Her Majesty’s Mi- concerned. Your work will be to “ pay down ”
nister of the 1st instant. the more “ prominent landmarks and features
of the line” * * * for C{ purposes of future reference and identification ”
* * “ and make a careful survey for record.”
4. Enclosure B. supplies yofi with a copy of Captain Lovett’s Report
of recent survey, of which the results will be found in his map also forwarded.
5. You should place yourself in telegraphic communication with Major
Harrison, 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. , Khelat, so as to ascertain at what time you could
conveniently arrange a meeting with that officer on the shores of Gwetter Bay;
and you should communicate with the Persian Minister of Eoreign Affairs,
through Her Majesty’s Legation, with a view of securing the attendance, at the
same time and place, of some person duly authorized to represent the interests
involved on the Persian side of the frontier.
6. The scale and details of your survey are left to your own judgment.
What is required is a sufficient record not only for the prevention of future
disputes but as a valuable addition to geographical knowledge, political as well
as general and physical.
7. Without entering into discussions of a non-professional nature, or
reviving in any way the settled question of rights on either side of the frontier,
you might be enabled to give an opinion on other points besides the
actual survey: and any suggestions for eventual rectification of frontier,
on geographical or even palpable political grounds, will be welcome for con
sideration as occasion may offer. Many questions may occur to you in the
prosecution of your survey, which may form a subject of useful reference and
report, the more especially in a region so little known to Europeans.