'Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan, and on the Site of Ancient Nineveh; with Journal of a Voyage down the Tigris to Bagdad and an Account of a Visit to Shirauz and Persepolis.' [‎398] (433/450)

398
SPRING TIDES.
[APP. VII.
rounds of musketry, which put them to flight. The wind
afterwards changed to N.N.E. About sunset we came to
El Hhad, or rather the beginning of it. Passed along a
grove of trees, and the tomb of Mahommed Abul Hassan.
About one hour after midnight we came to an anchor, there
being a contrary reacli of the river, and a canal running
from it, nearly as wide as the river itself, in which many
boats have been lost. About day-break, in the morning of
the 1st February, we again got under way. The river here
was narrow, and the banks low. Part of the surrounding
country is lower than the surface of the river, and has a
green, morassy appearance. Here and there are vestiges of
former encampments. 1 believe, as the country is rarely
overflowed, the water is kept at its level by innumerable
canals, with which the country is intersected.
An English sailor, of the name of Moore, in my service,
told me that, with a southerly wind, the effects of the spring
tides are sometimes felt as high as this; that is to say, the
current does not flow so rapidly.
At two o'clock, the wind being S. E., the trackers of the
kitchen-boat, which was some way astern, was stopped by a
party of Arabs. Accompanied by one of the gentlemen of
our party, Woronow, my hussar-orderly, and three sepoys Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. ,
I immediately jumped into the Jolly-boat, and pushed
ashore ; but the Arabs had fled, and there were only a few
peasants standing about, who were, however, rather insolent.
The hussar not understanding what was going on, but think
ing something an Arab was saying must of course be inso
lent, before I could interfere, gave him a smart blow with
the butt-end of his carbine. We came on board again,
however, without having done any mischief.
We arrived at Bussora on the second of February, having
left Koorna in the morning at about eleven o'clock.