File 1855/1904 Pt 4 'Koweit:- Loans to Sheikh.' [‎117r] (233/242)

measure to the notorious Kurdish Chieftain
Moussa Bey who is in exile there. It is since
reported that the claims of British Indian
pilgrims have generally been satisfied by the
local authorities.
28. It is stated in the Constantinople
press that 480 kilometres (300 miles) of the
Hedjaz Railway (vide paragraph 26 of the
Memorandum for February 1904) have been
completed, viz., 412 kilometres (257% miles)
of the main or Mecca line, and 68 kilometres
(42^ miles) of the Haifa-Mezerib branch.
29. "With a despatch, dated the 6th April
1904, Sir N. O’Conor forwarded to the Foreign
Office a recent plan of the proposed trace of
the railway obtained from the Office of the
Railway Commission. It appears r-—
(a) that there is no proposal for a branch
line from Maan to Akaha :
(&) that difficulties with the Arab tribes
on the section between Medina and Mecca
have prompted the proposal of two alterna
tive lines, one direct and another making a
detour westward touching the Red Sea coast at
the Fort of Rabigh :
(<?) that a line is proposed from Jeddah
to Mecca, which, if completed, will doubtless
draw off much traffic from the main Damascus
line.
30. His Britannic Majesty’s Vice-Consul
at Adana gives the following detailed and
precise information respecting the progress of
the Konieh-Eregli section of the Baghdad
railway (vide paragraph 23 of the Memorandum
for March 1904). The route followed was from
Tarsus to Eregli, Karaman, and Konia, and
the return journey from Konia to Karaman,
Mut, Gelefke, and Mersina.
At present the work is to be carried only as
far as Bulgurlu village, just beyond Eregli, and
200 kilometres from Konia. It is expected
that this point will be reached by the end of
September. After that, it is hoped that next
spring a careful survey will be made with a
view to continuing the line from Bulgurlu to
Adana, and to some point on the coast between
Ayas and Alexandretta; possibly at Ayas Bay
itself, or even at Mersina, by means of the pre
sent Adana-Mersina Railway. The line
taken from Bulgurlu would probably follow
the valley of the Chakit Su, passing by
Ak Kupru. The officials while denying any
knowledge of the continuation of the line,
speak of it as the “ Baghdad line Ballast
trains are now running to a point about
53 kilometres from Konia, and the rails are
not laid beyond that point, but the work is
being carried on the whole way to Eregli.