Page 387 - Gulf Precis(VIII)_Neat

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a 18. On 21 st September 1903, Sir A. Hardinge telegraphed to the Foreign
Office that he was unable to discover in the archives of the Legation at Tehran
the original permission to occupy Henjam, and he intimated that unless further
search was successful the procedure suggested in his Secret despatch dated
s6th June, must be modified.
219. In the Secretary of State’s telegram dated 28th October for 1903, inti­
mation was conveyed to us that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty agreed
that Bassidorc would be preferable to Henjam for cable station for naval and
general purposes.
220. The Government then consulted Rear Admiral Atkinson Willes, Naval
ibid No 32a Commander-in-Chief, on the question
of selecting a place for a cable station for
naval purposes. It was pointed out that this question should be kept distinct
from the question of a naval basis or anchorage and establishment (letter No. 73-C.,
dated 2nd December 1903, Viceroy’s Camp).
221. His Excellency the Rear Admiral replied on 3rd December stating that
ibid No 323 after v‘s‘t'n& Henjam and Bassidore he
had no hesitation in pronouncing in favour
of the former for a telegraph and signal station ; it is more easy of approach from
either side of the strait and although not a place which can be transformed into a
naval station it is better fitted for a naval signal station in certain contingencies.
222. The question was threshed out during His Excellency Lord Curzon’s
tour* in the Persian Gulf in company with
Ibid, No. *326.
the Naval Commander-in-Chief and in their
despatch to the Secretary of State, No. 16 Secret External, dated 21st June 1904,
the Government of India pointed out that the earlier discussions particularly by
the naval authorities appear to have missed the mark by mixing up the question
of naval station and cable station. The reinstitution of the former cable station
was not proposed in order to create a naval port or station there, but in order to
provide for our ships a place of telegraphic call or signal station at no great
distance from the entrance of the Gulf and to strengthen our hold upon the
island of Kishm, where we already possessed a British settlement at the western
extremity, and to which the smaller island of Henjam physically belongs. Fqr
these purposes the Viceroy and the Naval Commander-in-Chief concurred in the
conclusion that Henjam was a greatly superior locality to Bassidore, which had
previously* been considered by the admiralty to offer greater advantages. The
despatch then turned to a consideration of the method by which further action
should be taken. There were three alternatives. Either we might address the
PeYsian Government and sdlielt their permission to re-establish our former
telegraph station at Henjam ; or we might inform them that we propose to take
this' step in the exercise of right of possession, which, though not utilised for
years, had never been surrendered; or we might simply send a telegraph ship
there and might resume possession of the former site, informing the Persian
Government of the accomplished fact and explaining that we had decided to
restore to our old station on the original terms, which included freedom from
customs interference, for the convenience of our ships and Commanders in the
Gulf.
The site was quite unmistakeable ; the plinth upon which the British Tele­
graph Station stood from 1869 to 1881 was still in a good state, and the trench
in which the cable was laid to the sea was clearly visible. The Malik-ut-Tujjar,
who held a lease of the Kishm salt-mines, had erected a flag-pole on this I
foundation some twelve years ago, but it did not appear that a flag was ever
hoisted upon it, or that any representations of the Persian Government were
now upon the island.
In either case the Persian Government might be conciliated by the proposal
to carry on the telegraph wire, either by land or by sea, from Henjam to Bandar
Abbas.
In the event of His Majesty’s Government accepting these proposals, the
Government of India trusted that they would consent to bear at least one half of
the cost of the arrangements. The telegraph was asked for in the main in the
• See Chapter V.
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