"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٤‎٠‎٢] (١٧٨٢/١٥٥٧)

1402
it he had built a house and resided; and from him it was purchased by
Colonel Taylor, who subsequently became British Political Agent in
Turkish 'Iraq.
In 1840 Commander Lynch, the officer in charge of the flotilla, sug
gested that Magil should be acquired by Government from Colonel
Ta\ lor, who was still Political Agent at Baghdad, as a marine depot. A
board of military officers from Kharag Island, then under British occu
pation, visited the place in the same year and reported the ground and
buildings to be suitable for the purpose for which they were required.
There was also a question of renting a house and garden at Baghdad,
similarly the property of Colonel Taylor, which had been occupied as a
depot for the flotilla.
Correspondence on the subject was prolonged until 1842, when
Colonel Taylor finally offered to sell the Basrah and Baghdad depots for
Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 10,000 respectively, which he represented to be the
amounts that they had cost him, or to lease both to Government for a
monthly sum of Rs. 250. Meanwhile, however, the flotilla was broken
UP ^ onl y ^e *' Nitocris " remained ; and it seemed to be expected that a
d^pot could be dispensed with.
But the necessities of the situation obliged Major Rawlinson and
Commander Felix Jones to raise the question again in 1844, when, Colonel
Taylor having left the country, the Magil property was being managed
by Messrs. Lynch & Co. on his behalf. It appears that the Magil d^pot
had, in fact, never been evacuated ; and the Superintendent of the Indian
Navy considered that one was required, and that Magil was the most
suitable place. At length, in May 1844, the Government of Bombay
authorised the payment, as recommended by Major Rawlinson, of a
monthly rent of Rs. 100. Messrs. Lynch had demanded double that
amount on Colonel Taylor's behalf. Colonel Taylor then brought a back
claim for rent of Magil from 1st November 1839 to 1st May 1844 at
Rs. 200 a month, and for rent of the Baghdad depot from 1st May
1840 to 1st August 1843 at Rs. 100 a month, or in all for Rs. 14,700.
In 1847 this claim was compounded on the payment by Government
of Rs. 100 (instead of Rs. 300) a month for the two d^pdts for the period
during which they had been occupied, making altogether Rs. 5,400.
Thereafter the lease of Magil was renewed from time to time.
^•i ^ ie C^vemment 0 f India W ere prepared to purchase the
agi propeity for £1,000 ; but the transaction could not be carried out,
eeause Messis. Lynch, the managers, had only certain specified powers
un er theii power of attorney, and Colonel Taylor was at the time too ill
to be consulted.