'Lieut.-General Sir James Outram's Persian campaign in 1857; comprising general orders and despatches relating to the military operations in Persia, from the landing at Bushire to the treaty of peace; also, selections from his correspondence as commander-in-chief and plenipotentiary during the war in Persia.' [‎350] (369/454)

350
transit in this country, I have preferred, it will be seen,
whatever the apparent sacrifice, to direct their being
sold on the spot rather than send them to Damascus,
Aleppo, or other distant markets, where, if Captain
Kemball's information be correct, the sale of the camels
destined for service in the Crimea, occasioned an actual
loss to the British Government over and above their
original cost.
In the case of the mules, of which the number may
be approximately stated at 15,000, a different course
has, for various reasons, suggested itself. Seven hundred
have been transferred to Bushire for the use of the
camp there, and there being no demand whatever for
these animals in the Southern portion of Turkish
Arabia, the remainder have been remanded to Bagdad,
where a ready sale may always be found for them at
a reduction, perhaps, of one-third the purchase price.
As, however, some time is required to procure bag
gage cattle of this class, owing to the supply being
principally derived from the Perso-Kurdish Mountains,
while their maintenance here, with a reduced establish
ment, will be comparatively trifling, it is not my inten
tion to authorize their being disposed of until the
execution of the treaty is finally announced.
An additional motive for adopting the arrangement
above announced, is, that while mules may readily be
transferred by water from Bagdad to Bushire, camels
must necessarily be conducted by land, through Persian
territory, to the same destination. In the event of hos
tilities being resumed, the mules now at Bagdad would
be available to complete the baggage cattle required by
the force at Bushire, the column to operate from Mo-
humra being supplied exclusively with camels from
Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. .
I have, &c.,
J. Outram, Lieut.- General.