ASIA: PERSIA. 415 



certain facilities for financial connections with Russia, and also with 

 countries farther west. 



Telegraphic and postal communication is fairly regular and ex- 

 peditious to all countries, both east and west. 



All imports and exports, regulated by treaty, pay an invariable 

 duty of 5 per cent. When the foreign merchant has paid his import 

 dues, he receives a pass which frees his goods from all further tolls 

 or taxes, wherever he may send them. Persian merchants, however, 

 do not have the benefit of this regulation. Their goods are not only 

 subject to the import, but have to pay octroi or internal duties as well. 



OUTLOOK FOR AMERICAN TRADE. 



For the information of American merchants generally, I may 

 state that the method now adopted by many firms of European repu- 

 tation for extending and building up their trade in Persia is by a 

 system of consignments to well-known foreign houses and agents, 

 who dispose of the goods at market prices; and when the lots are 

 cleared off, send accounts with remittances. The commission usually 

 charged is from 5 to 10 per cent. If United States merchants can 

 not see their way to do business on these conditions, they might 

 send samples of their goods and instruct agents to obtain orders on 

 favorable conditions. Taking into consideration the superiority of 

 American manufactures over those which generally stock the Persian 

 bazaars, I do not see why they should not compete on favorable 

 terms with their European rivals. In the absence of direct shipping 

 communication with the Persian Gulf, it would be better to forward 

 directly to Bombay or Karachi, where goods could be reshipped to 

 any of the gulf ports with very little expense or delay. 



TRANSPORTATION. 



All imports and exports, as well as the natural and artificial pro- 

 ductions of the country, are transported from place to place by 

 means of pack animals. The only exception to this method is the 

 use made of the Karoon River for about 100 miles northward from 

 its confluence with the estuary of the Tigris and Euphrates. Two 

 small steamers, one belonging to an English firm located at Bagdad 

 (Messrs. Stephen Lynch & Co.) and the other the property of the 

 Persian Government, navigate the river as far as the town of Shoos- 

 ter (ancient Shushan). The former of the two steamers navigates 

 the lower and the latter the upper reaches of the river. Although 

 this stream was declared an open water way to all countries in 1889, 

 the only advantage taken of its facilities for transport is the small 

 service mentioned above. In ancient times, and especially during 

 the rule of the Sassanian dynasty in Persia, the water was largely 

 used for irrigation, and the alluvial soil covering a wide area of 

 surface produced abundant crops of sugar cane, cotton, and grain. 



