'Report on the Preliminary Survey of the Route for the Central Persia Telegraph Line' [‎86v] (177/300)

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As to the cost of building an office at the respective places
referred to, the operation would prove a very expensive
one at Bampur, as the price of kiln burnt bricks is rerv
higli (1G0 Krans per 1,000). There are several reasons
for this:—
(1) Masons have to be brought from Kerman.
(2) Earth suitable for bricks has to be transported
from a distance.
(3) Water has either to be carried from the river
to the site of the buildings, some 2 miles, or
a canal has to be duar.
(4) There is no timber suitable for building.
o
At Bazman, (2) (3) (4) disappear and also (1) in part, as
masons could be engaged to work at a lower rate of
wagss in the cooler climes of Bazman than in the un
healthy heat of Bampur.
The Pahra Government building was stated to have
cost 120,000 Kraus and the annual repairs amount to
2,500 Krans. 1 was advised to take the Bam rates and
to add 50^ for building at Bazman.
The question which naturally presents itself at this stage,
and one which, though out of place, must be disposed
of is—
“ Having established a Telegraph Office at Bam with the
next one at Bazman, and having condemned Began and
Bampur as unsuitable places at which to place a station,
where will the next forward station be located ? ”
There are two routes from Bampur to Karachi—one
through the interior vid Magas Kuhak and Bela ; the
second vid Serbaz and Peshin down to the coast to
Gwadur. I am advocating the adoption of the former,
and should my recommendation be accepted, it will at
once be seen that the next forward station to Bazman
will be Magas, which gives the very suitable distance of
138 odd miles. The Baloochies term Magas “ Sarhad,”
which with them means “cold country,” and from the
enquiries I made Magas appears to possess a good cli
mate. The altitude of Magas is given as 3,970 feet,
while it may be considered quite a large village with an
estimated population of 1,000 inhabitants. The water
is good, and supplies in fair quantities are procurable,
and being, as it were, on the main road and the centre
of a fairly rich district, it is visited annually by the
Governor of Bam to collect the revenue, and is thus
kept under more careful supervision and control than
places to the north or louth of the valley.