I  have  given  a  detailed  description  of  the  Nushki-
Sistan  route,  which  I  travelled  over  in  November  1900,
in  another  volume.^  Its  possibilities  as  an  avenue  of
trade  appeared  at  one  time  to  be  considerable,  and,
despite  the  recent  Persian  tariff,  are  still  no  doubt
not  to  be  despised.  But  it  cannot  be  denied  that,
apart  from  its  political  and  strategic  importance,  the
Nushki  caravan  -  route  never  was  and  never  will  be
a  particularly  inspiring  undertaking.  This  opinion  is
corroborated  by  Mr  H.  W.  Maclean,  the  commissioner
appointed  by  the  Commercial  Intelligence  Committee
of  the  Board  of  Trade  to  visit  Persia  and  inquire  into
the  openings  for  British  trade  in  that  country.  "  The
opinion  generally  expressed  to  me  by  Meshed  traders
who  have  tried  both  routes  was,"  writes  Mr  Maclean,
"that  the  additional  expenses  incurred  via  Nushki
made  the  total  charges  by  that  route  quite  as  heavy
as  on  the  Bandar  Abbas  route."  And  again,  while
admitting  that  some  of  the  disadvantages  unavoid-
able in  the  case  of  a  new  route  may  disappear,  he
opines  that  their  removal  "  will  still  leave  this  route  at
a  disadvantage  with  the  older  routes  via  Bandar  Abbas
and  Bushire.  These  considerations  lead  me  to  the
conclusion  that  the  Sistan  route  is  not  of  any  com-
mercial utility  to  direct  British  trade,  and  in  existing
circumstances  is  at  the  best  only  an  alternative  route
for  Indian  commerce.^'  Hardly  an  inspiring  horoscope
for  a  commercial  undertaking !

The  fact  is,  as  I  have  frequently  urged,  that  while

^  Sport  and  Politics  under  an  Eastern  Sky.
340  TEE  NEAR  EAST.
