"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٣‎٨‎٩] (١٧٨٢/١٥٤٤)

1389
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held by the last-mentioned authority " to be in a certain degree legitimised
a by long usage, by their application to the vessel rather than to the cargo,
" and by their forming a perquisite of the Arab Chiefs, for which, in event
" of their suppression, the Turkish Government would be bound to afford
" indemnification."
Major Eawlinson, the British Political Agent at Baghdad, held that
the possibility of a British sea-going vessel reaching Baghdad proved
that place to be a " port and he argued very strongly in favour of the
right of British vessels to fly their own flag above Basrah, not only on
the ground that for 40 years Turkish boats possessed by Britisih owners
or owners under British protection had been permitted to navigate the
river under British colours, but also because he feared that to concede the
point of flying the flag might be to concede the right of British
commercial navigation on the rivers of Mesopotamia altogether. The
attitude of the Pasha of Baghdad was uncompromising : he questioned the
right of the " Karbalai " to enter the Tigris at all, and said he would
refer it to Constantinople; he insisted, apparently under instructions
from the capital, that in any case she should not hoist the British flag
above Basrah; and he professed, with truth, his inability to prevent the
Arabs from attacking her if the usual dues of the riverain Shaikhs should
be refused.
The above threatened impediments to British navigation of the rivers Vizirial
of Mesopotamia were discussed by Sir Stratford Canning, the British ]g^Q er
Ambassador at Constantinople, with the Porte ; and in April 1846 a
Vizirial Letter to the Pasha at Baghdad was obtained through his
exertions, of which the concluding paragraph in the French text (or
translation) ran as follows : —
" En consequence, je vous eoris et vous envoie cette depeche afin que Voire Excellence
mette ses soins ace que Ton prenne des barques de commerce Anglaises qui, comme il
a ete dit plus haut, seraient desormais occupees a faire le commerce interieur sur les
denx fieuves susdits, des droits conformes a ceux que Ton prend des barques des sujets
Ottomans : et a ce que Ton ne prenne sur les cbargements des batiments Anglais qui
vienent de dehors, et qui vont dans an pays etranger, que les droits de douane etablis,
et qu'un droit d'ancrage consistant en cinq piastres. Votre Excellence aura soin de
ne rien faire prendre de plus. "
The sense in which the British Ambassador understood the settle
ment thus reached in the light of the discussions preceding it, was
explained by him in the following terms :—
British-owned vessels will continue to navigate the waters of Mesopotamia under
their national colours equally whether they are engaged in the foreign or in the
internal trade, and they will pay upon the merchandise which they convey the amount
of duties respectively applied in each case by the Convention of Baltlia-Liman,
In the event of their being employed above the usual ports of entry in the internal
traffic of the country, they will be liable to the anchorage duty which is always paid