"مذكرة تتعلق بالملاحة في نهري دجلة والفرات". [و‎‎٩‎٩] (٢٨٤/١٩٨)

[163]
N
45
1883—( coni). Euphrates alone, and gave an exclusive privilege
to Lynch's company for two vessels only. It
was pointed out to him that the firman said
nothing about Lynch and his company, but
mentioned the British Government. He then
spoke of the firman of 1841 as expressly naming
Lynch and identifying him with the grant of
1834. The Turkish Ambassador proceeded to
connect the vizierial letters of 1846 and 1861
with the firmans of 1834 and 1841, and to limit
the grant made by the former by reference to
the terms of the latter. The vizierial letter of
1861 spoke of Bagdad as being on the Euphrates,
and Musurus Pasha said that it was signed by
a man who knew nothing and could net sign
his own name, and was merely confirmatory of
the vizierial letter of 1846. As regards the
latter vizierial letter, he argued that Sir S.
Canning's despatch of the 25th March of that
year was not a fair or accurate version of its
terms, and maintained that the only privilege
accorded was to British-owned barques" to
navigate the Tigris and Euphrates for the
purposes of internal trade upon payment of
equal dues with " barques " of Ottoman subjects,
and to British vessels generally to pay no more
than the customary dues and an anchorage due
upon entering or leaving any port of entry,
Bussorah being thereby intended and not Bagdad
as this latter was not a port of entry,
Messrs. Lynch hoped that His Majesty's
Government, in the discussion with the Porte,
would insist on the unrestricted right of naviga
tion of the Tigris by British vessels of all kinds,
and also that the Porte should grant compensa
tion for the attack on the " Khalifah " in 1880,
for the interference with the barges of the com
pany in February 1881, and for the losses suffered
owing to the stoppage of the steamers on the
15th June.
The company submitted a statement of their
claims, amounting to 15,000/.
.
Euphrates and
Tigris Steam
Navigation
Company,
August 17.
Euphrates and
Tigris Steam
Navigation
Oompany,
October 15.
To Lord Dufferin,
No. 222, _
Commercial,
December 13.
Earl Granville informed Lord Dufferin that
Musurus Pasha had stated, on the 5th August,
that the Porte would in future only allow the
company to navigate the Euphrates, and that he
had added that, in the Porte's opinion, the letter
of 1846 did not apply to British vessels navi
gating under the British flag, but only to, vessels