"استطلاعات في بلاد الرافدين وكردستان وشمال غرب بلاد فارس ولرستان في الفترة من أبريل إلى أكتوبر ١٨٨٨، كتبها المقدم ف. ر. مونسيل، فرع الاستخبارات. يوجد مجلدان. المجلد الأول: تقرير سردي ووصف للمدن الكبرى والطرق المؤدية منها. شيملا: فرع الاستخبارات، إدارة قائد الإمداد والتموين، ١٨٩٠" [ظ‎‎١‎١] (٣١٢/٢٧)

8
The British Residency, English merchants'’ houses, Turkish custom-house,
and the Commodore’s residence are situated close to the water’s edge.
On the left bank, nearly opposite the Residency, is the new Turkish hospi
tal, a tine two-storied building recently built, with a small landing pier in
front of it. Near it is Gardilan, a small cluster of mud huts; and beyond,
through a thin fringe of date palms, is a boundless stretch of open desert. There
are ruins of an old Turkish fort and barracks near Gardilan. Three hundred
soldiers are quartered, in the town, and the barracks are on the creek at the
north-east corner of the place.
The Wall’s residence is half-way up the main creek, and the custom-house
and a small Turkish dockyard factory stand at the mouth of it. The factory
is used for repairing the Turkish river steamers, besides which a good deal
of building and repairing native craft is done up the creek.
The two Turkish gunboats anchored in the river are very poor craft, and
could not be trusted far from their anchorage.
Ocean steamers have to anchor in midstream, where they have suffi
cient room to swing with the tide. All cargo is discharged into lighters, a
species of clumsy wooden craft similar to those found at other Gulf ports.
They can carry from 15 to 20 tons of cargo.
The water-supply in Busra is bad. The river water is heavy and unwhole
some from the marshes higher up stream. The townspeople seem content to
obtain their water from a creek close by the town. Better water is obtainable
from wells.
In former times Busra was an emporium for the commerce between
Europe, Western Asia, and the Far East. The low mounds of brick ruins and
foundations of walls inside the old circle of the fortifications mark the site of a
large city. It declined after the divergence of trade route between west and
east round the Cape instead of by the Gulf and Mesopotamia. The opening
of the Suez Canal and a direct route thereby to England is gradually reviving
its commerce; also the discovery of markets in England and elsewhere for
dates, its staple produce.
Were it not for the shortsightedness and jealousy of foreigners of the Turks,
the position of Busra upon a great estuary formed by the united waters of
two navigable rivers, flowing through the richest and most fertile provinces
of Asiatic Turkey, marks it as being especially favourable to commerce.
In spite of drawbacks, there is no doubt the trade and importance of
Busra is gradually on the increase.
The present Wali, Nafiz Pasha, was formerly Commander-in-Chief of
the "VTth or Baghdad Army Corps. He is a Mushir (Field Marshal) and a
personal friend of the Sultan, and is a well-mannered old gentleman, belonging
to the old fanatical party, distinguished for its hatred of English influence.
Zobair.
Zobair is an Arab town of 6,000 to 8,000 inhabitants, 10 miles west of Busra.
In spring, when the Euphrates is in flood, the country between it and Busra is
under water, being part of the marsh which extends from the Euphrates
above Korna to the sea, parallel to the Shatt-’l-Arab.
Magil.
Magil is a small village, 4 miles up stream from Busra, on the right bank.
The old house of the British Residency still stands on the right bank. In the