"ملف 379/1906 السكك الحديدية: عدن؛ إنشاء خط السكة الحديدية في المنطقة الداخلية لعدن؛ السكة الحديدية ما بين عدن ولحج" [و‎‎١‎١‎٧] (٣٠٨/٢٣٨)

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telegraphed on the 22nd March, 1905 (please see my telegram No. 9 of the 24th March,
1900, to the British Ambassador, Constantinople), pointing out that “ as Nisab, the
^ulak! head-quarters lay well south of the N. 45° E. line implied in the Imperial
irad6 of the 12th February, 1903 (i.e., the 30th January, 1318, Turkish date), the
Aulaki and dependencies would appear to have been impliedly admitted as one of the
nine cantons.’ ^ On the 2nd April he received a telegraphic reply from the Minister
War, informing him, on behalf of the Grand Vizier, that “ in view of the statements
:n his {i.e., the Turkish Commissioner’s) telegram of the 22nd March, there was no
reason to hesitate about the status of Aulaki as one of the nine cantons.” X ^ive
these details, as a reference to them may be useful, should Beda and Behan ever
become the subject of discussion with the Sublime Porte.
22. With the somewhat important exception of Beda, the Turkish Commissioner
has now accepted substantially the desiderata set forth in the Government of India’s
telegram of the 14th July, 1904, to the Secretary of State for India. I may also
point out that in the case of all four of the nine tribes whose borders have come under
the delimitation {i.e., the Yafa’, Amiri, Haushabi, and Subehi), considerably more has
been obtained than had been expected previous to demarcation. The accepted basis
ol the latter being the tribal norders according to the status of 1901, the frontier laid
down is, in places, not a natural one. This applies, perhaps, especially to the section
of the Haushabi border which crosses the Addareja Valley between Basesa and
Has Namis, instead of following the natural line of the crest of Jabal-am-Amma and
Jabal Jarban down to Jalisa {vide paragraphs 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the Commission’s
No. 19 of the loth March, 1904).
23. I understand projects are under consideration for the construction of a light
railway from Aden up the liban Valley to the Haushabi border, presumably some
where in the vicinity of Addareja, and it was with a view to the possibility of a
railway terminus in that neighbourhood that the Boundary Commission endeavoured,
with success, to arrange that the principal water supplies to the south of Jabal-am-
Amma should be left on the British side of the line. Should these railway projects
be realized, the trade of the fertile districts near Taiz and Ibb would be tapped, and
there would certainly be an increase of traffic and business in and around Mavia, with
a corresponding increase of Turkish Customs “ activity ” in the valley north of
Addareja. In such an eventuality the necessity for a ratification of the boundary to
the crest of Jabal-am-Amma, &c., would probably be more seriously felt than at
present.
24. Though the status of 1901 precluded the possibility of taking the boundary
along the natural line of the crests of the hills at the time of demarcation, the Arabic
documents attached to the Boundary Commission’s No. 19 of the 15th Alarch, 1904,
show that tribally the Haushabi Sultan might be entitled to claim the Am Amma-
Jarban-Jalisa line, a rectification that would be more acceptable to the Wajihi and
Shamera villagers now that the Haushabi Sultan Ali Mana has replaced the lately
deceased Sultan Mohsiu, and the latter’s harsh rule has given place to the more
conciliatory methods of his successor.
25. Copies of all documents and maps of the south-west Suhehi frontier have
also been forwarded, as usual, for transmission to the Government of India, Foreign
Department, the Government of Bombay, the Secretary of State for India, and His
Majesty’s Ambassador, Constantinople. The maps and description of boundary sent
to the Government of India will, I jn’esume, be forwarded to the Surveyor-General of
India with a view to the completion of the final boundary maps required for
ratification at Constantinople.
26. With reference to the large scale map of Sheikh Said, the boundary between
Jabal Kuwah and Husn Murad had, according to my instructions, to be drawn so as
to pass a certain distance inland from the actual shore line, while leaving the village
of Turba and its wells on the Turkish side. In the original survey the coast line was
slightly inaccurate, and the alteration shown on the map is by Captain Bond, B.E.
27. I have handed over the archives of the Boundary Commission to the Political
Besident, Aden. They contain such a large number of documents referring to other
than purely boundary matters, that I have thought it useful for future reference to
subjoin a list of the principal documents having a direct hearing on the different
sections of the frontier.
I have &c
(Signed) ’ G. H. FITZMAURICE.
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