File 2764/1904 Pt 2 'Baghdad Railway: General negotiations 1908-10.' [‎357v] (729/799)

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between 3,000 or 4,000 feet. Emerging on the other side at a corresponding height
there lies before it the long descent to Adana. Erom Adana I rode a short way in
the direction from which the railway is expected to come, and found the country
extremely rough and broken, consisting of rock, with a thin covering of gorse, which
will require much blasting and cutting. Further away from Adana, and nearer the
point of exit from the mountains, I was informed that the valley down which
the railway is to come is narrow, rocky, and broken, and that for some distance
construction difficulties will resemble those found between Ula - Kishla and
Bosanti.
The post road, by which I travelled, descends from Tekir by a long narrow ravine,
in which is situated the famous Cilician Gate. The ravine is some 15 miles long, and
greatly resembles in character the descent from Ula-Kishla and Bozanti. Beyond it
the country opens out considerably, and the last 24 miles to the plain consists of long
low folds of ground, lying in terraces one below the other. Below Tekir the road
recovers its character, and is well graded and surfaced throughout the remainder of
the distance to the plain.
General Notes.
I am inclined to think that the plan to tunnel the Bulghar Dagh may not turn
out to be the best. The expense will be very great, the danger from wash-outs, owing
to the very heavy storms prevalent in this region at certain times of the year, will be
very great, while liability to landslips and avalanches, &c., in so wild a neighbourhood
must not he overlooked. German scientists, believed by well-informed people in
Adana to be engineers, have been spending much time in exploring the mountains
near, and it is not improbable that they are seeking an alternative route. My own
impression is that it may ultimately be divided to follow the post road rather than the
river, a course that is not without advantage. The drop from Tekir Tvould be greater
than that involved by the other route, hut there would be the advantage of having to
traverse a shorter distance of broken country betore emerging on the plain. The
Adana-Mersina Bail way has recently passed into German control. The chief officials
are now German, and the system of management and accounts employed in the
Anatolian Railways has been adopted. With this short line in the hands of people
whose interests are identical with those composing the Bagdad Railway Company,
the smaller line could be used to facilitate progress of the greater project.
Junction of the two near Tarsus, where the post road comes out of the hills, would
save about 20 miles of construction, and w r ould not affect the value of the Bagdad
scheme.
Erom a commercial point of view the second section of the Bagdad Railway must
be a dead loss, for the country traversed is practically without population, and there
is no cultivable land except the small area of Bozanti Yale. Despite the presence of
the railway at Eregli grain in the neighbourhood is dispatched in large quantity by
canal to the coast at Mersina rather than by rail to Constantinople. High railway
rates account for this anomalous state of affairs, which, however, is not likely to
continue as there is a general tendency to low r er charges on the Anatolian railways.
Locally the Bagdad Railway will of course do little or no work, while it is difficult to
see that through goods traffic, when the line is extended to Aleppo, will be important
owing to the proximity of the principal markets to the sea. Erom the Turkish point
of view the chief value of the line must be for many years to come strategic rather
than economic, wdiile in German eyes the kilometric guarantee is the important
consideration.
It is hardly necessary to say anything about a delay in proceeding with con
struction of the second section of the railway, for it has been fully discussed in the
press. The terms of the Convention provide for Turkish bonds of the value of
54,000,000 fr. to be handed over to the Railway Company as provision for construction
expenses. These bonds, in the case of the first section, were floated in Europe and
brought in a return, approximately, of 1,800,400/. Actual construction cost no more,
according to the estimate of competent authorities, than 800,000/., the result being
that the shareholders of the Company pocketed 1,000,000/. The same financial
arrangements held good for section 2, but matters work out very differently, for
instead of costing 800,000/. to make the new section will cost nearly 3,000,000/. owing
to the natural difficulties detailed above. The Company, therefore, does not care to
lace a situation wherein they will be obliged to disgorge not only their million of