Should there be any intention of eventually making a railway from the coast to Kasvin and Hamadan, there to meet a line to Baghdad, then it would be the best course in every way to connect Resht with Baku by a railway along the coast, passing through Astara and Lenkoran.
The coast country is famous for its rice, which could be extensively cultivated, and the resources in forest and fishery produce are great.
There would be considerable local traffic as the country opened up, and the through trade in oil from Baku would be a paying one.

I believe the Russians know that it would be cheaper to build a railway along this coast-line of about three hundred miles, with such trade capabilities, than, in the absence of harbours, to erect breakwaters, make sheltered anchorages, and dredge navigation channels.

For two-thirds of the distance the line would lie in Russian territory.
I met at Enzelli a foreign artist, whose acquaintance I had formed in Tehran, where he made some good pictures of local life and scenery.

He was loud in his complaints of the elements--the heavy rain and the awful mud.

He had come down the road with a minimum of travelling comforts, and had been rather miserable.