) on his map!

Such other trifles as the connecting of lakes by imaginary rivers to
maintain the reputation of a scientific impostor, or the building of
accurate maps (_sic_) from badly-taken photographs--the direction of
which was not even recorded by the distinguished photographers--are
frauds too commonly perpetrated on the innocent public by certain
so-called scientific societies, to be here referred to. Although these
frauds are treated lightly, the harm they do to those who take them
seriously and to the public at large, who are always ready blindly to
follow anybody with sufficient bounce, is enormous.

Without going into minor details, let us take the burning question of the
fast-expanding Russian influence in the south of Persia. We are assured
that Russia wishes an outlet in the Persian Gulf, and suspicions are
strong that her eye is set on Bandar Abbas. On the map it certainly
appears a most heavenly spot for a harbour, and we hear from scribblers
that it can be made into a strong naval base and turned into a formidable
position. The trade from Meshed and Khorassan and Teheran, Isfahan, Yezd,
and Kerman is with equal theoretical facility switched on to this place.
Even allowing that Russia should obtain a concession of this place--a
most unlikely thing to be asked for or conceded while Persia remains an
independent country--matters would not be as simple for Russia as the man
in the street takes them to be.

It would first of all be necessary to construct a railway connecting the
Trans-Caspian line with Bandar Abbas, a matter of enormous expense and
difficulty, and likely enough never to be a profitable financial
enterprise. The political importance is dubious. A long railway line
unguarded in a foreign country could but be of little practical value. It
must be remembered that Persia is a very thinly populated country, with
vast tracts of land, such as the Salt Desert, almost absolutely
uninhabited, and where the construction of such a railway would involve
serious difficulties, owing to the lack of water for several months of
the year, intense heat, shifting sands, and in some parts sudden
inundations during the short rainy season.

Moreover, Bandar Abbas itself, although ideally situated on the maps, is
far from being an ideal harbour. The water is shallow, and there is no
safe shelter; the heat unbearable and unhealthy. At enormous expense, of
course, this spot, like almost any other spot on any coast,