"كتيّب الجزيرة العربية المُعد تحت إشراف القسم التاريخي لوزارة الخارجية – رقم ٩٠". [‎٥‎٥] (١٤٨/٧٠)

Arabia]
RAILWAYS
55
be very costly on account of the nature of the ground,.
Its construction involves strategic as well as economic
considerations, for it would afford rapid land communi
cation between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
(3) Ma'an—Jerusalem, via Jericho and Es-Salt.
This would open up the isolated district south-east of
the Dead Sea.
It has long been intended to construct a line between
Mecca and Jedda for the use of the pilgrims who land
at the latter port. A survey was made in 1911, but
three successive wars have postponed construction.
Such a line would meet with opposition from the
Arab tribes, who either supply camel caravans or rob
them.
Important for the internal development of Yemen is
the Turkish Government's project for a line from
Hodeida to Sana, with an extension to Amran. This
line was to be constructed simultaneously with a har
bour at Ras el-Kethib {see p. 61), about ten miles north
of Hodeida, and the harbour and town were to be
linked up by a metre-gauge railway. The length was
stated in the British Consular Report on Hodeida for
1909 to be about 200 miles; if this is correct the line
would perhaps follow the valley of the Wadi Saham.
Stuhlmann, however, writing in 1916, stated that the
short route was rejected in favour of a very circuitous
one, passing Zebid, Taiz, and Yerim, and that a
further branch was contemplated from Hodeida to
Hogeila, at the foot of the precipice on which Menakha
stands; he quoted an estimate of the total length,
including extensions, as about 450 miles. The esti
mated cost of the shorter 200-mile railway was about
£1.500,000. The survey was made by a French bank
ing group, including the Banque Fran^aise pour le
Commerce et ITndustrie (Banque Rouvier). A French
company was formed with the title of Compagnie Otto-
mane du Chemin de Fer Hodeida, Sana, et Embranche-
ments, and in 1909 was granted a concession for the
construction of the railway and harbour. A 4 per cent.