‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎33v] (71/722)

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The Sharif Yamuts inhabit the land on the rig-ht bank of the Atrak •
and the Chuliuni Yamuts are located near its embouchure.
The source of the true Atrak was found in 1875 to be at the head of a
dry torrent near Kabushan. It flows in a north-westerly direction throuah
Shir van and Bujnurd, receiving- several considerable affluents from the
Kuran Dagh on the north, but none of importance from the hills to the
south, and is in fact the same as the Garmi Rud ; a name more properly
applied to the valley it flows through.
^ r -^’Donovan saw the Atrak from a point a few miles above Chati
where it joins the Sambar, to a mouth near Hasan Kuli.
. He says that until close to the delta it flows along the bottom of a steep
sided ravine, varying in breadth from three-quarters of a mile to 400 yards •
and in depth from 40 feet to 60 feet to the ordinary water level.
The bottom of this ravine is more or less flat; and in its midst is the river
channel which winds very much, with a canal-like regularity of banks.
This channel varies in width, being sometimes 20£eet, sometimes 30 feet, some
times 12 feet wide. Its ordinary depth is from 5 feet to 6 feet; but there
are veiy many places where it is much deeper. The sides of the river slope
regularly at an angle of 45°; and owing to the slippery nature of the loamy
soil when moistened, which then resembles a soap board, it is almost
impossible to get out of the water without assistance, or even to stand in the
water within one s depth; as the sides slope together in Y form. As a
consequence, there are only certain places where it is possible to bathe.
Ihe fordable points are at long intervals, and only exist from the latter end
of August to the end of January. In April 1880 at Chati the river
channel was quite full and entirely unfordable, except at one point about a
quarter of a mile below Chati, where the Cossacks were in the habit of
crossing in search of forage in the plains beyond.
The infantry made use of a small raft, on which they ferried themselves
to and fro by means of a stout rope stretched from either bank. The
breadth of the river at this point was about 35 feet. Except at certain
p aces, the river is inaccessible to four-footed animals ; and over its greater
extent to men also, owing to the perpendicular nature and great height of
the sides of the ravine. b
• r ? hese sides are of stiff yellowish white marl, baked by the sun to the con-
sistency of Portland stone Great masses, detached by their own weight,
stand apart fiom the bank like great obelisks ; and in places the ravine wall
is toin mto a thousand fanciful and castle-like shapes by winter floods from
the plains above. All around the entrenched camp of Chati the ground is
^ed and scarred by torrent beds, which mostly all disappear within 100
L base in Ihfform burr ° wi ^ into th e earth, appear again at
a n Jt S :iY 0WS f T be tbe — ht0 the cam P dangerous; camels
iinder their feet, L^have 0 beeTdu^^out^ebw ^A^a CrUmbImg a "!f y
after dark n !t t0 ^ ^ f ^ entre&nchmen ts winds in such amTnne^that
after dark, it is excessively dangerous to try and follow it; especially on
of Chili ;.re? n 6 Tl m . Si<le o£ the At,ak > immediately to the west
makeslts wap “rive? ra ™ eS ’ by Which tke ™ ter rain£a11
t J AteZ?/? St ™? t th TS h a rav i ne precisely similar to that of
it !r? r b l’ l , "'„ l ' S lmm f d ! ate channel is about the same dimensions; but
of the Atilt contamsm '»eh less water. In April, when the average depth
of the Atrak was from 5 to 6 feet, the Sambar, close to its junction with the