PROPOSED OPENINGS FOR COMMERCE. [CHAP. XVIII.
Commercial elsewhere are indispensable to success. Stations at Moham-
Baghddd!* ° merah and Shuster would make the great opening by the Kariin
into western Persia available. Another at Kiirnah would be
Suitable equally suitable for the Kerkhah, and the two other great rivers,
Kiirnah °f whose junction is effected at this place. The Tigris being
already provided with stations at Baghdad and Mosul, the latter
under the vice-consulate of Mr. Kassam, it only requires another
at Diyar Bekr, and the neighbouring town of Mardin, since the
close connexion of the former place with the countries about it
would speedily secure a revival of its ancient commerce.1
Stations pro- The numerous towns along the Euphrates, and the extensive
fhAuiubi population, partly permanent and partly nomadic, on the banks
of that river, will ultimately require several stations; but, for
the present, one should be at Hillah, another at ’Anah, and a
third at Beles.2
The present establishments at Tarabuzun and Tarsus give
some impetus to trade in Asia Minor; but others might be
formed, with much advantage, at some of the most important
places in the interior, as Sivas, Kai'sariyeh, Koniyeh, and
o th e r depots Angora; all which have native traders, and the last has a
considerable extent of commerce, but no longer in the 'hands of
British-merchants.3 It is evident that the capital to be employed
at the proposed establishments would enable them to
supply goods at a much cheaper rate than they can be obtained
at present, especially as measures would be taken to prevent
those excessive exactions which are so injurious to commerce.4
Fertility and Though the subject has only been considered relatively to
improvement the people in their present state, it should not be forgotten
tendaS°P° that Mesopotamia possesses as many advantages as, or perhaps
more than, any other country in the world. Although greatly
changed by the neglect of man, those portions which are still
cultivated, as the country about Hillah, show that the region has
all the fertility ascribed to it by Herodotus,6 who considered
1 Vol. I., p. 15, and vol. I I ., Appendix (N).
2 Arab agents, as deputies in charge of fuel, if steamers were established,
would be required at Lamlum, Hit, Deir, &c.
3 Appendix (N). 4 Appendix (E ).
s Lib. I., cap. cxcii.
its productions as equal to one-third of those furnished by all
Asia. Being equal to, and in many respects even superior to
Egypt, with regard to its position and its capabilities, the time
need not be distant when the date groves of the Euphrates may
be interspersed with flourishing towns, surrounded with fields of
the finest wheat, and the most productive plantations of indigo,
cotton, and sugar-cane.