London to Gibraltar 1000 7
Gibraltar to Malta 1000 8
Malta to Aleppo 1000 6
Aleppo to Beles 60 2
Beles to Bagdad } 5
Bagdad to Bussorah }
Bussorah to Bombay 9
---
37

I have recently had some conversation with Mr. J. Taylor, who is
waiting only to see the Pasha to make final arrangements.

Another very important feature of the above plan for steam
communication with India is, that those societies who have
missionaries there, may send out their secretaries to encourage and
counsel them, by which means they will be able not only to enter more
fully into the feelings and circumstances of those they send, but will
be able to make their own reports, which will be more agreeable to
those engaged in the work--to tell about which must always be a
difficult undertaking.

I found yesterday that one of the gentlemen who came hither lately
from India, was a Mr. Hull, the son of Mrs. Hull, of Marpool, near
Exmouth, who, however, is not going across the desert, but round by
Mosul and Merdin, to Stamboul. He hopes to be home in September.

Mr. Pfander learnt from some Armenians yesterday, that they were much
pleased with the children learning the Scriptures in the vulgar
dialect; that they were so far able to understand the ancient language
still read in their churches, and they expressed a wish that they
might have a complete translation in the vulgar tongue. Those
Bibles we now have from the Bible Society, are in the dialect of
Constantinople, which is by no means generally or well understood
here, where the Erivan dialect prevails, which they use in the
Karabagh, in the north of Persia, and in all these countries. The
missionaries at Shushee are going on with the New Testament: Mr.
Dittrich has finished the translation of the four Gospels, and we hope
it will be printed for the Bible Society this year, for we greatly
need Armenian books in the vulgar dialect, by which we may, step by
step, supersede the old altogether. We also greatly want Arabic
school-books; but these we shall hope to get from Malta, through the
labours of Mr. Jowett.

We find the general feeling here, not only among Christians, but even
among the Mohammedans, is a wish that the English power might prevail
here, for although the Pasha does not directly tax them high, yet from
a bunch of grapes to a barrel of gunpowder, he has th