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the Church Missionary Society, and an archaeologist and an Indian profes­
sor. And a large party of students from London camped in the Consulate
garden in September, as they were unable to appreciate the accommodation
provided for them elsewhere by the local authorities who otherwise did all
that could be desired to render their visit profitable and to facilitate their
departure. A party of photographers employed by the Anglo-Iranian Oil
Co. visited Persepolis and the Sugar Factory in Deccml>cr and was endea­
vouring to find camels and lorries in close juxtaposition in accordance with
modern ideas of advertisement, and to satisfy certain recent Police regula­
tions.
In addition to the above activities, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company,
sent a large geological expedition to make a survey of the whole area be­
tween Shiraz and Bandar Abbas and of the Ardakan area in the west of
the Province, with a view to determining whether any portion of Pars is to
be included in the final concession area. The Company also made arrange­
ments for the supply of oil in bulk from Bushire to the Sugar Refinery at
Marv Dasht and installed large depots with petrol pumps at Kazerun and at
Shiraz. It is reported that a motor road is to be made by the Company
from Ganawah to Borazjan, which may render them independent of the
present tracks over the “mashilch”.
The work of the Church Missionary Society’s Hospital at Shiraz has
continued successfully. Some difficulty with the Municipal Health Officer
was settled by the Governor-General at the request of the Acting Consul.
Bishop Thompson visited the district in September and inaugurated a
church at Qalat, 25 miles to the north-west of Shiraz.
The Pars Manufacturing Company’s cotton mill has been mentioned
elsewhere. Three English engineers employed there resigned early in the
year, as payment of their salaries in accordance with their
contract was not in accordance with the new fiscal regulations.;
They were replaced by two other English engineers who accepted
payment on different terms. Mr. Hussein Agar, of the firm of Hadji Ali
Akbar and Sons of Manchester and founder of the Pars Manufacturing
Company, was absent in Bushire at the end of the year supervising the
erection of another factory, having resigned his post as Director of Govern­
ment Trading Companies. His son, Mr. Charles Agar, was technical
manager of the Shiraz mill throughout the year.
The British colony in the district of Ilis Majesty’s Consul at Shiraz
numbered 123 at the end of the year. Half of these are at Isfahan and
half at Shiraz. A considerable amount of the work of the Consulate con­
sisted in routine matters connected with Isfahan. His Majesty’s Consul
and the Acting Consul each paid long visits to Isfahan during the year.,
Arrangements were also made by the Consulate for the lease of houses,
payment of rent, engagement of a gardener and guard, and supply of furni­
ture on behalf of the Honourable the Political Resident. Other activities
included an exhaustive report on the production of gum tragacanth for the
information of a Cambridge professor and the collection of samples of
cotton from different parts of the districts for the Institute of Plant Indus­
try at Indore.
Subscriptions were sent' by the Acting Consul to the King George
Jubilee Trust and to the Earl Haig’s Fund as the result of collections m
Isfahan and in Shiraz.
Foreian interests.—After the British community, the German colony
is the most important in Shiraz. There are two families established for
many years, one of whom owns a flour mill. The other one was formerly
land agent to the Qawam-ul-mulk. A German is in charge, of t.he Wine
Factory controlled by the Government and two Germans are employed at
the School of Arts and Crafts under the Education Department. Gorman
mechanics are in charge of machinery at the Pars Electric Company’s
spinning mill ‘ J