Page 204 - Gulf Precis (VI)_Neat

178 Part III.

It is further necessary that I should poiol out to Your Excelloncy that tho " talibiych ”
duty leviable at Baghdad vnrios altogether in principle from tho taxes which aro imposed
upon vessels navigating tho river by tho Arab Chiefs upon ttio banks, and which formed the
•ubjeot of ft rofeicncc mado to Your Excellency by my prudeccssor in 184-3. 'Ihoso taxes,
amounting on each trip to about 1,&00 piastres. Your Excellency considered to bo iu a cortain
degree legitimatized by long usago, by their application to the vcgsoI rntlior than to thcoargo,
and by tlioir forming a pnrquisito of tho Arab Chiefs, for which, in event of their suppression,
tho Turkish Government would bo bound to afford indemnification. Tho present tax, on the
contrary, is novel in its application to British boats ; it bears directly upon the cargo, and it
accrue* immediately to the Government in oxocs* of the legitimate duos, and without producing
any advantage to the merchant either in regard to security or accommodation.
If Your Excollency concur in the view of-tho case which I havo adopted, you may perhaps
think it advisahlo to procure a Viziri.il loiter to tho authorities at Baghdad, sanctioning tho
application of the "talibiyoh" tax to British boats wlion they have cargoes of native produce
intended for internal consumption, but confirming the exemption from its operation, which
our raorchanU havo hitherto enjoyed, when they load their boats with uativc produce for ex­
portation, or with British goods und manufactures.

Dated Baghdad, tho 25th November 1845.
From—Majob Rawmnson,
To—Sib SibaT700D -Canning.
A sohooner, named the Kerbe/ai, ha9 not only been built at Bombay by a merchant of
that place expressly for the navigation of tho rivers of Mesopotamia, but the vessel has actually
arrived nt Basrah, from whence her owners have transraitttd to me a copy of their register
(transcript of which is annexed), and have claimed the right of ascending the Tigris under
British colors and free of all demands fromthe Arabs who lino the banks.
Before sending any answer to Basrah, I havo, of course,addressed Ilis Excellency Najib
Pasha on the subject and I have been informed in reply that, although His Excellency
questions the right of any British vessel to navigate the river, except on under special Firman
from the Porte, he will not, pending reference to Constantinople, place an absolute interdict
upon ascent of the vessel in question ; but, at the same time he demands (and apparently
he makes the demand under authority) that she shall nut hoist a British flag above the
port of Basrah. With regard to the demands of the Arabs he observes that if the vessel he
in tho condition to resist thorn, she is at liberty to do so ; but, ns his own authority over the
tribes who inhabit the marshes is merely nominal, and as thoir power to impede the passage
of any vessel not impelled by steam is undoubted, the owners of the schooner, he adds, must
take upon themselves the responsibility incurred by any opposition upon their part to establish
usage.
In conformity with the opinion recorded by Your Excellency in your despatch to wj
predecessor under date tho 28th April 1812,1 shall recommend the Captain of the Kcrbelai
to raise no question at present respecting the payment to tho Arab Chiefs, to whose good-will
he must lo indebted, for the possible accomplishment of the ascent of the river; hut,
ofter Turkish boats possessed by British owners, or owners under British protection, have been
hitherto permitted for a period of dO years to navigate the river under British colors, I havo
a strong repugnance in the case of a British boat to acknowledge tho right of the Baghdad
Government to domand the substitution of a Turkish flag. As the concession of this point,
indeed, appears to be equivalent to a concession of our national right of navigating the Mesopo­
tamian rivers for the purpose of trade, I think it better that tho vessel in question should
incur a loss by demurrage at Basrah, pending an answer from Your Excellency to my present
despatch, than that, by appearing under Turkish colors, sho should afford a precedent for the
renewal of a demand, of which the property is certainly doubtful, and which Your Excellency,
after due consideration, may be prepared to resist.
The real question at issue appears to be, whether Baghdad can be considered a port? I
referred this point on a previous occasion to Mr. Consul-General Cartwright, and ho was
clearly of opinion that if a vessel built and laden at an Indian port could enter the River
Euphrates, pass Bashra. without breaking bulk or.paying duty and land her cargo at Baghdad,
the l atter place might then be held to be the port of the Tigris, as Sook-es-shukh might be
considered the port of Euphrates and Basrah that of the united rivers.
Hitherto we have had no instance of a vessel importing cargo direct from India to
Baghdad (nor even of a British merchant-vessel appearing in the Tigris), but Aerbetoi is*
case in point adapted to river, as well as to a navigation. She can proceed without breaking
bulk from Bombay to Baghdad, and if by so doing she can bo admitted to have vcriliert toe
claim of Baghdad, to be considered as tho port of the Tigris, then, of courso, neither sno
nor any British vessel can be legitimately required to striko tho national flag on ascending
the river above the town of Barrab.