BOOKS.

FRONTIER-MAKING.*

A GLANCZ at the map will show that a chain of mountains extends from the neighbourhood of Ararat in a south-south-easterly direction to the head of the Persian Gulf. Save during ephemeral outbursts of world- conquest under the Alexanders, Chengiz Khans, and Tamed anes of history, this range of mountains has constituted a natural boundary between nations and kingdoms. It at one time separated the Mode from the Assyrian. Since 1039, when Murad IV. finally won Baghdad for Turkey, it has, roughly speaking, constituted the dividing-line between that country and Persia. But the precise frontier had never, until quite recently, been delimitated. Both Turk and Persian recognized that there was a zone, averaging about twenty-five miles in breadth, which constituted a sort of No-Man's-Land, to patches of which either side might, and actually did, lay claim as occasion required. Moreover, raids from the Turkish side upon territory which was admittedly Persian were of frequent occurrence. For instance, a local chief, who was recognized as " Governor " by tho Persian Government, found it con- venient to call in the aid of some Turkish troops to settle a private quarrel in which he was engaged. They responded to his call, deposed the witless and over-confident " Governor," and remained for six years in possession of his territory. Eventually, Anglo-Russian pressure forced them to retire. Accurate information as regards right of pos- session based on tradition and prescription was tainted with obvious perjury. Octogenarians could readily be produced who were prepared to swear that from their earliest infancy they had owed allegiance to either Shah or Sultan, according-to the venal inspirations of the moment. A nomad goatherd, on being questioned as to whom the pasture on wnish he was grazing his flock belonged, replied : " To Allah." Even a border miller, who was interested inasmuch as he was a Persian living en Turkish soil, evaded answering a question relative to the true frontier-line and confined himself to saying that " it was all in the bands of Allah."

During the " forties" of the last century, the Turco-Persian dis-

sensions became so acute as to lead to the brink of war between the two countries. Russia and Great Britain, being equally desirous to maintain the peace, intervened. A joint Commission, of which Colonel Williams of Kars celebrity was the British member, was appointed to aid in the settlement of the points at issue. For about four years, from 1848 to 1852, the Commissions: a "wandered spasmodically up and down the frontier," whilst their Turkish colleague (Dervish Pasha) amused himself by going on separate " tcurs of investigation," in the course of which he erected a number of boundary pillars on such s:tes as his fancy led him to consider suitable and appropriate. But the combined efforts of the London and Petrograd Foreign Offices were unable to induce the rival parties to permit of a recognized line being laid down on the ground. Their reluctance to accord this permission was due partly, as Lord Curzon explained, to " the dislike of precise arrangements that is typical of the Oriental mind," and partly to the Micawber-like frame of mind of both the Pers:an and the Turk, which induced each to think that, if the matter were left alone, something might occur which would give an advantage to his own side. Then the Crimean War intervened, and the subject was necessarily shelved.

After the Peace of 1856, tho work was resumed. British and Russian

surveyors laboured at their respective maps till 1865. When eight out of the seventeen sheets were compared, it was found that there were some four thousand discrepancies in names, places, &c., between the two surveys. But the surveyors were not discouraged. Indeed, one of the most pleasant features of the whole of this tedious diplomatic incident is that, in spite of wars and national animosity, the local British and Russian agents appear throughout to have acted cordially together. In 1569, " by some surprising feat of cartography," all differences had been settled, and a Carte Identique was produced. Another Commission, of which Sir Arnold Kcmball was the British member, was appointed. Their proceedings were leisurely, but after a long process of higgling and haggling, a settlement had, by the year 1877, been nearly. concluded. Then followed the Serbian and Russo-Turkish Wars, and again the miller, the goatherd, and the other inhabitants of the debatable country were left in doubt as to whether, besides owing reverence to Allah, they owed allegiance in this world to Teheran or to Constantinople.

After the Treaty of Berlin had been signed, discussions on tho Turco.

Persian frontier question were resumed. By 1885, a " gaudily coloured map some twenty yards long of doubtful accuracy " had been produced, but no real settlement had been effected. On the contrary, the Turks, taking advantage of the internal troubles of Persia, indulged in a series of wholly unjustifiable raids. Then the Anglo-Russian .Agreement, which recognized that Northern Persia was within the ephero of Russian influence, was signed, and the whole question was approached in circumstances more favourable to finality than had existed at any previous period. On November 4th, 1913, a Protocol was signed at Constantinople by the Grand Vizier of Turkey and the Ambassadors of Russia, Great Britain, and Persia laying down sum- marily tho frontier en the basis of the Carte identique of 1869. A • From the Cull to Ararat. By 0. B. Hubbard. London: William Blackwood and tons. 11e3. Cd. int.]

difficulty then arose owing to the fact that no copy of this map could be found. The Turkish copy had, it was ascertained, been purloined by Izzet Pasha, the notorious secretary of the late Sultan. " At length a battered tin cylinder, which for years had been accumulating dust in some corner of the British Legation at Teheran, was opened and revealed the searched-for map."

Many minor difficulties had, however, still to be settled. For instance, in one place " the Turks resolutely claimed as their boundary a river, whose name appeared on no map, and about whose position—or even existence—no one could give the slightest information." A joint Commission, therefore, set to work to delimitate the frontier on the ground. Its functions were very different from those of its abortive predecessors. The British and Russian Commissioners were no longer to " mediate." If any difference of opinion arose between the Turks and the Persians, the matter was within forty-eight hours to be referred to the " arbitration " of their European colleagues. The result was that the work, which had occupied previous Commissions for three or more years, was completed in less than twelve months. The arrival of the Commissioners at their final destination on Mount Ararat was almost simultaneous with the outbreak of the present war with Turkey.

Mr. Wratislaw, a member of the Levantine Consular Service, was appointed British Commissioner. Mr. Hubbard, who was one of his staff, has now published an account of the travels and proceedings of the Commission. He modestly apologizes for its publication. No apology was necessary. Mr. Hubbard has given us a graphic account of some regions which have been little visited and about which little is known. His description of the climate and physical features of the alternate swamps and sands of the Lower Mesopotamian plains enables us to form some idea of the sufferings and hardships endured by thoso gallant troops who but recently gained possession of the city immortalized by the fictitious history of Sinbad the Sailor, but failed in an heroic attempt to reach the home of the world-famous Haroun-er-Rashid. He appre- ciates the beauties of Nature, and is able to picture them in language which reads pleasantly to any one of literary tastes. He is observant of Eastern habits and mental characteristics, and evidently revels in the picturesque anomalies and the unconscious humour of Oriental life. Lastly, he makes no idle boast when, in presenting to the political student an extremely interesting and instructive account of the events with which he was connected, he says that the long-drawn negotiations over the Turco-Persian frontier question constitute " a phenomenon of procrastination unparalleled even in the chronicles of Oriental diplomacy."

As the natural outcome of that sympathy for Nationalism which dominates the democratic age in which we live, a good deal has recently been said of the wisdom of looking to ethnology as a guide in tracing the frontiers of States. Mr. Grundy, in his history of The Great Persian War, deals at some length with the relative merits and demerits of ethnic and phyaical frontiers, and points out, with great truth, that a dividing- line between nations which ignores ethnic: considerations can rarely produce stable or satisfactory political results. The locus classicus in this connexion is the Rhine. From the days of Caesar onwards, it has failed as a permanent boundary between Germans and Gauls because, though a physical obstacle, it does not constitute any true ethnic lino of demarcation. Those who take an interest in this question, and who wish to reconcile theory and practice, cannot do better than study Mr. Hubbard's book. In his pages they will find narrated a case in which the application of principles, however meritorious, afforded but little guide to practical action. The task which lay before Mr. Wratislaw and his colleagues was to divide a country between two nations of different racial and linguistic affinities—the Turks and the Persians—whilst in reality on ethnic grounds it belonged to a third nation, the Arabs, who spoke a different language from either, and came of another racial stock. In such circumstances it is no surprise to learn that the frontier which was actually adopted " supplies instances of practically every principle of delimitation known to science." It is sometimes geographical, at others racial, occasionally " roughly speaking linguistic," and when all these principles proved bankrupt, "frankly artificial, following stated lines of longitude and latitude."

It will be seen, therefore, that the work of frontier-making is arduous. It is also at times accompanied by much dmfort and some danger. In 1810, two British officers, Captain Grant PI Lieutenant Pothering- ham, visited the wild and at that time unexplored district, termed Pusht-i-Kuh (The Back of the Mountains), which lies to the east of the Tigris. The chief of the district, after having entertained them at

dinner, caused them to be seized and taken to the top of a high cliff. There they were offered the choice of conversion to Islam or death.

They chose the latter alternative, with the result that their bodies were dashed to pieces on the boulders which lay below. Mr. Hubbard and his companions, being accompanied by a strong armed escort, did not experience any such savage treatment. At the same time, apart from the fact that some appreciable risk is always incurred from the hospitable but inconvenient practice, common throughout the East, of giving a joyous welcome to any honoured guest by tho reckless discharge of ball cartridges, armed robbers and marauders abound. Towards the close of the mission, Mr. Hubbard had the bad luck to be wounded, whilst out partridge-shooting, during an attack made by a party of thieving Kurds. Moreover, it is not altogether pleasant to travel in a country swarming not only with fleas, but also with " a very poisonous variety of centipede who leaves his claws inside you if you try to knock him off," and further with hordes of " gruesome-looking tarantulas," four inches broad and " armed with a double set of the most fearsome mandibles." One of these monsters appeared on the card-table whilst the Englishmen were engaged in playing a quiet after-dinner game of bridge. Also, in an almost waterless district, it is disappointing, on reaching the banks of a welcome stream (the Tyb), to find, after due trial had been made of its waters, that they contained "an exceedingly potent solution of Epsom Salts."

Mr. Hubbard records various incidents, some amusing and others pathetic, which occurred during his travels. Amongst the latter, it may be mentioned, as an example of the victims offered up on the altar of even the most beneficent Imperialism, that the great-grandson of the last King of Delhi was discovered begging his bread in the streets of Kerbela. Mr. Hubbard furnishes an amusing account of a great banquet given to the Commissioners by the friendly Sheikh of Mohammerah. A " grizzled old negro " acted as butler. He stalked over the very extensive table-cloth which was spread on the floor ministering to the wants of the guests, and tearing whole sheep to pieces with his hands. He skilfully avoided for some time the multiplicity of dishes which the hospitality of the Sheikh had provided, but eventually lost his balance and put one of his " huge black feet splash into a luscious dish of apricots and chicken hash."

The strange inconsistencies of the East are illustrated by the account given of the son of the Sheikh. The Europeanism of this handsome young man was manifested by the fact that he drove a motor-car ; his Orientalism by the practice, which led to his removal from the post of Governor of the town, of beating an excessive number of respectable merchants to death.

Finally, before leaving this attractive volume, attention may be drawn to the humour and fertile imagination of the Arab mind in the manu- facture of names. When the British Army first occupied Egypt, the uniforms of the Highland regiments attracted much attention. It was acutely remarked that the sporrans appeared to be misplaced beards. The Highland soldier was accordingly dubbed " The Father of Beards." Mr. Hubbard quotes numerous instances of a similar description. One of the first spots at which the Commissioners camped was called Umm Chir (The Mother of Pitch). They then proceeded to Umm-el-Tummair (The Mother of Date Syrup). A snipe is very appropriately called " The Father of Long Noses," and one somewhat corpulent member of the Commission was named, without the least intention of giving offence, " The Father of Bellies." The Kurds, whose language (Kurmanj) is not a Persian patois interspersed with a few words of Chaldaean, but is believed to be " a complete tongue of the greatest antiquity," have shown an original resource equal to that of the Arabs in the manufacture of descriptive names. A very craggy mountain is called " The Tearer of Pants," and another, which is singularly stony, is known as "The