"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٤‎٥‎٧] (١٧٨٢/١٦١٢)

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What then are the advantages which the conntry might expect to gain from this
possible expenditure ? They are pi ineipally those to be derived from the more rapid
transmission of mails, and from the possession of an alternative and more rapid route
for the conveyance of troops, and from the great commercial advantages, both to India
and England, which the opening up of the route would confer.
The amount of time that might be saved in the transmission of mails from England
to Bombay is variously estimated by different witnesses, some placing it at four days,
others as high as seven or eight days, but it must of course materially depend upon,
first, the length of the railway, and secondly, the rate of speed at which the trains can
travel, which again depends partly upon the gauge to be adopted, and thus the question
is resolved into one of cost. Captain Tyler, R.E., who has gone carefully into the
question, states the saving of distance by the Euphrates route from London via Brindisi
and Scanderoon to Bombay, as compared with that via Brindisi, Alexandria, and Suez
at 723 miles, and estimates the saving of time at 92 hours. The adoption of Kurrachee
as the point of debarkation, instead of Bombay, would of course materially, enhance the
saving, and during the season of the monsoon the gain would be increased by avoiding
the Indian Ocean.
With regard to the conveyance of troops, your Committee have taken the opinions
of several highly competent witnesses. Lords Strathnairn and Sandhurst, successively
Commanders-in-Chief in India, Sir Henry Rawlins on. Sir Bartle Frere, and others.
As respects the comparative advantages of the proposed railway route and the route by
the Suez Canal for the purpose of the ordinary reliefs, some difference of opinion
prevails. The advantage of gaining some days in point of time is counterbalanced, in
the opinion of some witnesses, by that of being able to send the men from the point of
departure to that of destination without transhipment. Lord Sandhurst and Sir Henry
Kawlinson prefer the Suez route on this ground. On the other hand, Lord Strathnairn
and Colonel Sir Henry Green consider that in the winter the shorter route would be the
preferable one. But nearly all the witnesses concur as to the importance of having a
second or alternative route available in case of the first being impeded or in case of an
emergency arising, which might call for the rapid dispatch of troops, especially if they
were wanted in the north-west of India,
# # * * *
Speaking generally, your Committee are of opinion that the two routes, by the
Red Sea and by the Persian Gulf, might be maintained and used simultaneously ;
that at certain seasons and for certain purposes the advantage would lie with the one and
at other seasons and for other purposes it would lie with the other ; that it may fairly be
expected that in process of time traffic enough for the support of both would develope
itself, but that this result must not be expected too soon ; that the political and com-
mercial advantages of establishing a second route would at any time be considerable and
might, under possible circumstances, be exceedingly great; and that it would be worth
the while of the English Government to make an effort to secure them, considering the
moderate pecuniary risk which they would incur. They believe that this may best be
done by opening communications with the Government of Turkey in the sense indicated
by the semi-official correspondence to which they have already drawn attention.
It does not appear whether any action was taken at Constantinople
by Her Majesty's Government on this report^ nor, if so, what difficulties
in the way of an understanding with Turkey or of raising* capital for the
enterprise were encountered. But with the presentation of the Select
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