"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٣‎٤‎٥] (١٧٨٢/٤٨٨)

345
ou bazar/ ; having a braucli at Paris or,Marseilles ; the object of the propo
sal was to create direct trade between France and the Persian Gulf which,
the writer argued, would compete on favourable terms with existing British
trade through Bombay, inasmuch as the sea voyage would be shorter and
the payment of customs and middlemen's profits at Bombay would be
avoided ; nothing, however, resulted from the suggestion. In March 1903
M. M. Dumas and Castlelin, the former a partner in a Marseilles firm, came
provided with letters of recommendation by the French Ministries of Com
merce and Foreign Affairs, to Bahrain and made preparations for settling
there; in consequence, however, of an outbreak of plague they hurriedly
quitted the place in the month of May following. They had brought with
them numerous samples of French manufactures, and M. Dumas during his
sojourn made an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a concession for pearl-fishing
from the Shaikh. Again, at the beginning of August 1903 M. Jouannin,
General Secretary of the a Comite de TAsie Frangaise/' arrived at Masqat
with an assistant and remained for about a month exhibiting French goods
and making commercial inquiries. Early in September M. Jouannin visited
Bahrain, where he stayed for three weeks, employing his time in the same
manner as at Masqat ; during his stay he mooted the foundation of a Bank
in Bahrain, but his overtures were rejected by the Shaikh. After an un
successful endeavour to arrange for a journey to Central Arabia he left
Bahrain and proceeded to Basrah and Baghdad. No political character was
attributed to a visit which was paid to Bahrain in August and September
1905 by Mine. Nattan, the widow of a Paris jeweller, accompanied by a
daughter and a nephew. The party were accompanied by a son of the
notorious Anglophobe M. Goguyer, and they were subsequently joined by
M. Goguyer himself, but it appeared that they had no serious object
beyond the purchase of pearls.
The French archaeological excavations at Tallo in Turkish 'Iraq ceased
in 1900, but those at Shush in 'Arabistan continued throughout the period.
German activity in the Persian Gulf, 1899-1906.
To the circle of European powers taking an active interest in the Per
sian Gulf was added, about this time, the German Empire. Germany stood
in high favour at Constantinople, partly on account of her having abstain
ed—which other powers did not—from remonstrances with Turkey on the
subject of the Armenian massacres of 1895, partly on account of a visit