'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [‎10] (19/432)

10
INTRODUCTION
to be generally passable for wheels or easily made so by a little
ramping, &c. In winter and spring, however, some of them at
times contain considerable torrents. Irrigation-cuts are not common
except in the cultivated areas of the alluvial plain N. and NE. of
Baghdad, where a good deal of bridging and ramping might be
necessary here and there. South of the Sinjar the only important
line of hills is the low but rugged Jebel Hamrln. Broken hilly
ground is also found along the edges of the desert-plateau over
looking the Tigris and Euphrates.
The principal and very serious difficulty attending movement in
the plains is the prevailing lack of water and supplies. The effect
of this on the direction of main routes, &c., will be discussed below.
(&) The Kurdish Hills. —The hill-country of Kurdistan S. of
Kowanduz may be divided roughly into two zones which gradually
merge into each other: the zone of the foot-hills and down-country,
and the zone of the higher ranges.
In the first, movement is generally fairly easy. Open rolling
downs, low ridges, and wide valleys of clay, gravel, sandstone, &c.,
form its principal features. Most of the tracks as far as Salahiyeh,
Suleimaniyeh, Eaniyeh, and Eowanduz, where not already passable
for wheels, could be improved fairly easily. The chief obstacles are
the Greater and Lesser Zab (both fordable here and there in the low-
water season), and their principal affluents, which are for the most
part easily fordable except when in spate from rain or melted snow.
A certain amount of work may be needed to make the banks of some
of the stream-beds and wadis passable for wheels. Water in this
region is generally plentiful, there is good grazing in spring, and
the country, though much under-cultivated, is sufficiently tilled and
populated to support a number of small towns.
Eastwards the ranges become gradually higher and more rugged ;
the tracks through the hills more stony, steep, and narrow. The
mountains enclose small fertile plains, but these are often damp and
muddy. The higher passes are blocked with snow in winter.
Stretches of road passable for wheeled transport become more and
more rare, until by the time the Persian frontier is reached only
mule-tracks ranging in quality from fair to bad may be found.
Supplies are scanty, but water and fuel are plentiful, and there is
a good deal of grazing.
The Main Routes from Baghdad —The
desert character of most of the plain country has the effect of limiting
to three the main lines of movement between Baghdad and Upper
Mesopotamia: (a) the line of the Euphrates, towards Aleppo, &c.;