GENERAL JOHN JACOB'S VIEWS. 455 of British India made his counsel valuable, was of opinion that since Persia had heen invaded from the sea in force, and since the British troops had obtained pos- session of Mohamra, and virtually of the whole of the Karoon river, it would be an error to abandon that dis- trict, and to restore it to Persia.* He held that the English force should retain the province of Khuzistan ; which, under British rule, could scarcely fail to be restored to its former prosperity. That province is divided from the rest of Persia by ranges of mountains which form a complete natural barrier, and it is in- habited by tribes and people of the Arab race. It is traversed by rivers navigable from hill to sea, and adjoining the valley of the Euphrates, it completely commands the outlet of that river to the ocean. General Jacob further recommended that the port of Bushire and the island of Karrack should be incor- porated with the dominions of the Queen.* Had the island of Karrack alone been retained permanently in the hands of the English Government of India, its possession would have given to that Government a position in the Gulf of Persia which would have rendered future breaches of treaty at Tehran unlikely of occur- rence ; and the retention of Karrack would not have entailed much cost, since the island would have been guarded by the British squadron stationed in the Persian Gulf, whilst it would have been governed by the officer who
- Views and Opinions of General J. Jacob, C.B. Edited by Captain
LEWIS PELLY. f In enumerating the advantages that were likely to accrue to England from the retention of the valley of the Karoon, General Jacob omitted to point out the increase which British influence in Turkey would gain by the establishment of a British province so near to the dominions of the Sultan.
