Summarising the various sections of the line, we get: Alexandria to Gulf of Akabah (Egyptian) Akabah to Bussora and Koweit (Turkish and Independent) Kurrachee to Kunlong (Indian) Kunlong to Shanghai (Chinese) . 1,600 From this it can be seen that the circumstances for the construction of a through line to China are far more favourable than they were for Russia in the case of the Siberian Railway, so far as the mere mileage to be covered and the physical difficulties of the route are concerned. The single advantage possessed by the Russian project was that already referred to: the fact that as far as the Chinese frontier it runs through their own territory. But it is easy to overrate the political objections to a through railway, and the experience of our engineers on the Indian frontier, in the Soudan, in Uganda, and in Southern Africa show that dangers to be apprehended from the attacks of hostile natives generally melt away when actual construction has begun and matters get to materialise. So far things promise auspiciously for the future of the project I am advocating. The Egyptian Government, I believe, regard the undertaking with favour, and as the westernmost section would traverse their territory for a distance of 200 miles as far as the Syrian frontier, their adhesion to the undertaking is most important. The desert country of Arabia Petræa is easy enough, judging from some large scale surveys that exist, though immediately before the Arabian plateau is entered upon, there would be the stony gorge of El Arabah, and a stiffish climb to negotiate before the 1,400 feet level of Arabia proper would be reached. The permit of the Porte would be required for the crossing of the narrow strips of territory that fringe the Red Sea and Persian Gulf and over which Turkish jurisdiction extends. But when the former is passed the independent and interior region is reached, and here we should derive most important assistance from the Amir of Jebel Shomer, who is the virtual sovereign of Central Arabia. An official envoy was actually despatched to this potentate not long ago, and the project of the railway was laid before him, and elicited his complete approval. I look upon this as a most gratifying circumstance, disposing satisfactorily of the surmise that a railway across Arabia might arouse hostility in the minds of the native chiefs. As a matter of fact, Mohammedan feeling seems strongly in favour of the project. When it was first mooted, about two years ago, a good deal of attention was bestowed upon it by Mohammedan communities in India, and an influential meeting was held on the 24th of December 1897 in the house of the Home Secretary of the Nizam of Hyderabad. A resolution was passed in favour of the projected railway from Port Said to Kurrachee, and ordered to be transmitted to the Secretary of State for India. It is easy to see that anything tending to facilitate pilgrimage to the various holy places in Mesopotamia and Arabia, whither Mohammedans annually resort in such large numbers, would meet with their hearty support, and a trans-Arabian line with branches southward towards Hail, Medina, and Mecca would cater for the needs of enormous streams of pilgrims from Northern Africa and Turkish Arabia. The route across Arabia is sufficiently well known to make sure that no great obstacles exist. It would pass through a natural depression, marked by several oases, including El Juf, and towns occupied by some thousands of inhabitants. There are no lofty mountains and no great rivers, and though many of the tracts are sterile, we have had enough experience of railway construction in the Soudan and Western Australia to know that regions of this character are comparatively easy to lay a railway through. There would be a short branch terminating at the harbour of Koweit or Grane, which, it may be remembered, was the projected terminus of the old Euphrates Valley line, but the main line would run to Basra, where the width of the river is about half a mile, and, circling round the bend of the Gulf, would hug its eastern shore and proceed eastwards towards India. Before Persian territory is reached the line would have to cross the Shat-el-Arab, and beyond, the Karun River, both of which would entail some big swing bridges; but along the coast of the Persian Gulf there is a strip of lowland, varying from two to thirty miles in width, which more than one traveller has remarked on as being ideally suitable for a railway. From Bunder Abbas eastward a preliminary survey might be requisite before the alignment could be decided on approximately; but, on the other hand, I anticipate a great deal of information from the data accumulated by the Government of India during the last few years. I am informed that nearly every route for a railway up to and even beyond the Persian border has been carefully examined by officers of the Indian Survey Department working westward. Moreover, the Government are doing more, for Captain Webb-Ware has opened up a trade and postal route from Nush-ki to the Perso-Baluch frontier, and it is in contemplation to establish a telegraph line along the same route. A railway has been also talked of, but so far there seems an idea among Indian officers that the Kej Valley, which lies further south, might prove more suitable. Anyhow, the important part of the business is that the necessities for improved communications between India and Persia are beginning to be fully and practically recognised by the Indian Government, and that their measures fall in with, and advance, the very project here under consideration. VOL. XLVI-No. 271 K K Eastward of Kurrachee and as far as the Chinese frontier of Yunnan, the construction of the missing links necessary to make up a grand and continuous trunk line would naturally, as I have already mentioned, devolve on the Indian Government. I don't know whether it is worth while planning out in detail the most feasible route, for this part of the scheme could be elaborated with far more technical knowledge by the expert advisers of the Government of India, who would have at hand the latest detailed surveys and possibly also kindred projects framed so as to avoid break of gauge. This part of my proposal, I may point out, is already exciting keen interest in India, and an able article in the Pioneer Mail of the 7th of July enters fully into the project. I attach a map, kindly prepared for me by Mr. Arthur Barry, which shows the entire length of the route from London to Shanghai, as well as the Russian route through Siberia, for purposes of comparison. My object in the present paper is to indicate the prima facie practicability of the whole project in its entirety. The Indian section offers no exceptional difficulties; nay, rather, it simplifies the whole scheme, for the greater part of the line is there already laid, the only gaps remaining to be filled up being those which have inevitably accrued from the piecemeal construction of a huge network of railways, designed to subserve local needs rather than transcontinental traffic. The grand objective point in China towards which we are striving is, of course, Shanghai, the great entrance port and commercial mart of the Middle Kingdom and meeting place of the eastern and western bound steamship lines. It marks the approach to the Yang-tze valley, which is both politically and commercially our special sphere, and which also plays such a unique part in China's cosmography. From the Yang-tze will range the future lines of communication which are to open up the Celestial Empire. Down the upper valley of the river itself we may expect to see the rich products of Sze-chuan brought oceanwards; from Hankow to Peking and from the northern bank of the river, opposite to Chin-kiang, to Tientsin, will run lines which will exploit northern China; while from Nanking via Soo-chow to Shanghai is to run a British line, destined to open up the rich and densely peopled alluvial tracts lying at the estuary. The Yang-tze itself is an unrivalled waterway, pending the construction of the line which must some day be prolonged down its valley to Shanghai. It is worth while bearing in mind that as soon as the proposed line reaches India, it will revolutionise the sea route and traffic with Australia. It is about 3,500 miles from Madras to Perth, the capital of Western Australia, and in view of the federation of the Australian colonies, Perth will shortly be connected with Sydney by rail. It |