Descripción
18 unbound leaves printed to the rectos only, stapled to the top left, pages unnumbered. Front page chipped at the edges but complete, the rest in good or better condition with a couple of faint institutional ink stamps dated 21 Janv 88, and a couple of colour crayon lines to the margin. This appears to be a proof copy of an article published in the Bulletin of the Societe de Geographie, 7e ser. IX, pp557-573 with map in text (listed as item 2941 in Elements d'un bibliographie francaise de la Syrie, 1919). The text looks to be complete, but there is no map although the positions of 2 plates, Pl 2 and Pl 3, are flagged in the headers on 2 pages which also mention the name of the Bulletin. Dumont is credited as a retired chief engineer of bridges and roads. In the context of colonial competition with Britain and Russia in particular, he argues the importance of establishing a rail link between Europe and India. He describes three current initiatives, the first being Russia's network from the Caspian to Merv and Samarkand, and in reference to the Great Game, on to India, a very real prospect likely to be carried out in a short time. Second, Europe to Armenia and Persia, unlikely given the current economic situation. Third, and the subject of this paper, a line from Constantinople or the Syrian coast to the Persian Gulf via the Tigris and Euphrates. He quotes his recommendations to the Institut de France in 1886 at length, which was to build a line to the Persian Gulf to complement (not compete with) the successful Suez Canal. He summarises the British survey of 1872 and agreement with the Ottomans to build a line that would have transported British and Turkish troops which got shelved. He describes subsequent British (by Mr Cameron) and German surveys, and critiques 7 proposed projects including: 1) Scutari to Basra via Alexandretta, Aleppo, Baghdad etc; 2) central Turkey to Mosul and Baghdad; 3) Tripoli to Baghdad or Kuwait via Palmyra and the Syrian Desert; 4) Tyre to Kuwait or Basra; 5) Sidon to Kuwait or Baghdad via Damascus; 6) Aleppo to Tehran and Herat via Mosul; and 7) Tripoli to Baghdad with future extensions to Bushire and Karachi (favoured by Cameron). Of these, Dumont favours Project 1, and explains why by describing what the route might look like. He favours Basra (a potential "new Venice") as a terminus, as it is close to the Shatt al Arab, at the point where sea and river navigation meet, and to Mohammerah on the Persian side, connected by telegraph, with British and Turkish infrastructure, customs, and significant trade already passing through, which means it would easily cover its costs. Major sanitation and irrigation works would be needed. He also quotes the current costs to transport goods from Alexandretta to Aleppo by camel and mule, and the volume of this traffic. Travel by rail would be preferable to the "terrible" Red Sea passage. He then critiques Cameron's proposal in detail, including the route, the relative cost of transport by camel vs rail, etc, and concludes by stating that as it is designed exclusively with English interests in mind, it should be rejected in favour of Project 1. On to the practicalities of improving irrigation and sanitation, he reimagines romantically the glory days of the Fertile Crescent, and argues that the land could be made more productive than Lombardy, simply by excavating the ancient canals using cost effective techniques employed at Suez and Panama. In considering rivalry with the English, he examines Cameron's views of Ottoman culture, perhaps as a source of potential division, referencing the hereditary Caliphate, acceptance of illegitimate sons, harems, Circassian slaves, vice, etc. He ends with a visionary statement, imagining the ruins of the Tower of Babel greeted by locomotives leaving from the foot of the Eiffel Tower, and trusts in God. N° de ref. del artículo 4306
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