ملف رقم ١٤٠٨ لسنة ١٩٠٤ الجزء ٢ "الخليج العربي: تلغرافات. كابل هنجام-بندر عباس" [و‎‎٢‎٤] (٤٧٨/٥٢)

Confidential.
No. 1896, dated Bushire, the 17th (received 27th) August 1906.
From— -Major P . Z. Cox, C.I.E., Political Resident in the Persian Gulf,
^ To— Sir Louis Dane, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., Secretary to the Government of India in
the Foreign Department, Simla.
In continuation of my telegram No. 310, dated 14th instant, I have the
Resident to His Britannic Majesty’s Charge honour to forward, for the information of
d’Afiaires No. 90-1895, dated i 7 th August 1906, the Government of India, a codv of a
with sketeh map. r .1 ^ . .
rurtner report with accompaniments, which
I have today despatched to the address of His Britannic Majesty’s Chargd
d'Affaires, Teheran, on the subject of the Bunder Abbas Cable dispute.
No. 90-1895, dated Bushire, the 17th August 1906.
From— Major P. Z. Cox, C.I.E., His Majesty’s Consul-General, for Fars, Khuzis*
tan, etc.
To—His Britannic Majesty’s Charge d’Affaires, Tehran.
In continuation of my telegram, dated 14th instant, I have the honour to
address you on the subject of the outstanding dispute regarding the location of
(i) the Cable House and (2) the Telegraph Office at Bunder Abbas.
2. When your telegrams Nos. 18 of 14th July and 121 of 19th idem, were
received here, I was at sea and out of communication ; but they were duly
repeated by my First Assistant to His Majesty’s Consul who replied on 20th
in the sense of the two paraphrases accompanying. I myself reached Bunder
Abbas on 23rd July in order to drop Lieutenant Gabriel proceeding to Bunder
Abbas in relief of Lieutenant Shakespear appointed to an acting vacancy at
Muscat; but as I was in quarantine I was unable to land.
Lieutenant Gabriel joined his post with an open mind and I gave him the
strictest injunctions to endeavour to come to a friendly understanding or com
promise with Monsieur Stas, in order to bring this tiresome Cable question to
a settlement. Contrary to previous precedent, however, Monsieur Stas has not
yet seen fit to give our representative an opportunity of making his acquaintance
by calling at the British Consulate, but on the contrary has sent Lieutenant
Gabriel a message saying he expects the first visit. I mentioned the omission
to Monsieur Heynssens here, telling him of the instructions which I had given to
Lieutenant Gabriel and of the latter’s keen desire to come to an understanding
with Monsieur Stas, and asked the Director-General if he could give his sub
ordinate a hint which would expedite the commencement of friendly relations
between the two. In reply Monsieur Heynssens remarked that without doubt
Monsieur Stas would have followed previous practice and would have called on
Lieutenant Gabriel had it not been for the baneful presence of “ the Russians ”
(Monsieur Ovseenko); he added that though he hardly thought he could order
Monsieur Stas to call, he would nevertheless give him a hint which he thought he
would not fail to take. This the latter has not yet done ; in fact he has since
committed his claim to first call to writing, but his absence from Bunder Abbas
may account for the delay and I hope that on receipt of Monsieur Heynssens’
advice he will change his attitude. Meanwhile I have received your enquiry of
I ith instant.
3. I now beg to refer you to the sketch map accompanying this letter and
to make clear the following preliminary points:—
(a) All the space between Bunder Abbas Town and the Cable is either
heavy sand or marshy ground.
(b) The place where the Cable is landed was selected by the Cable-lay
ing experts of the Indo-European Telegraph Department as being
the most suitable spot on the Bunder Abbass foreshore for the