'Telegraph and travel. A narrative of the formation and development of telegraphic communication between England and India, under the orders of Her Majesty's Government, with incidental notices of the countries traversed by the lines.' [‎55] (88/782)

I.]
MEMOIR OF COLONEL PATRICK STEWART.
nacy of a Turkish Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. made them his bitter ei)emies, and con
sequently hostile to the telegraph which he wished to erect.
Under these circumstances Colonel Stewart returned to India
from Baghdad in April 1864.
" After making his arrangements in Bombay he embarked for
Egypt and Constantinople, landing at Galata in July. From
that time to the hour of his sickness he has been constantly
engaged in urging the Ottoman authorities to organize at least
one thoroughly efficient wire for the Anglo-Indian telegraphic
service. In the first instance his attention was given to certain
amendments in their Asiatic lines, inspected and re-inspected
by British officers ; to placing a competent staff of clerks and
signallers along that line sufficiently acquainted with English to
prevent a recurrence of the absurd mistakes heretofore com
mitted by the misuse of that language and incorrect transla
tions; and to framing a full convention with the Turkish
Government which would meet all future requirements on the
subject of international telegraphic communication. It then
appeared that, while perfecting the Asiatic system, there was
danger of deterioration on the European side. Attention was
consequently drawn to the Danubian and Adriatic lines of
Turkey. But a Turkish office is not like an English one. Several
cigarettes have to be smoked, and several formal visits have to be
got through, before the actual entry into business can be at
tempted ; and in nine cases out of ten, even after business has
been fairly begun, nothing results except under strong pressure.
Ihe lirst stage of inertion got over, the next one is a question
ot personal interests. It is the last stage only which can be
considered the truly successful one, where something like
punishment and degradation is held out in terror era.
11 Colonel Stewart had an able assistant in Major Champain,
a brother officer of Engineers. This gentleman has held charge
of the Persian line of telegraph, which, branching off from the
1 urkish line at Baghdad, takes a long course to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
through Tehran, and joins the Indian Sea cable at Bushahr.
'Ihe completion of this alternative line would render the failure
between Baghdad and Basrah of comparatively little im
portance, for the correspondence would then have effect from
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