'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. II. 1917' [‎148] (157/542)

148
RIVER ROUTES
Shamiyeh channels, which separate at Kifl and enclose between
them a third swamp known as the Khor el-'Abbasiyeh : to the east
of them, and between them and the Hilla Branch, lies yet a fourth
swamp, the Khdr Abu Nejm. Above Kifl the two channels are
again united in the Hindiyeh Branch, which leads NNW. past a
sixth Mwr on the 1. bank to Tawarij, where it takes a turn NNE.
and runs through firmer ground to the junction below Museyib.
(6) Navigation. In most parts of this branch the river is navigable
only for very small craft, except from March or February to the begin
ning of July, when it is practicable for craft drawing 3-3f ft. The last
occasion before the war on which a steamer, the ascended this
branch was in the first week of July 1913: the vessel drew 3 ft. 2 in.
The Shatt Khansar is tortuous and difficult: its width is 80-100 yds.
From its upper end to Shinafiyeh the river is 150 yds. wide and
navigation is fairly easy. At Shinafiyeh there seems to be a bar, on
which at the beginning of February 1912 not more than 2 ft. 2 in.-
2 ft. 5 in. of water was found, though on the 14th of February the river
had risen sufficiently to allow the passage of a vessel drawing 3 ft.
Large hellams fully laden cannot navigate the Bahr-i-Shinafiyeh in
l.w. Above this lake the Shamiyeh arm is better for navigation
than the Kufeh Channel, which is now practicable only for quite
small craft. The Shamiyeh arm is 150 yds., wide except where
islands reduce the breadth of the channel to about 50 yds. Navi
gation is hampered here and up to the barrage by native irrigation
' dams. From Kifl to the Hindiyeh Barrage the width is about
200 yds. The lower (old) barrage is almost impassable, and the lock
on the New Barrage is only 26 ft. wide. See Appendix C.
(c) Country along Hindiyeh Bran The Euphrates valley is
bordered on its SW. and W. sides by a sandstone ridge which
forms the edge of the Syrian Desert. From Samaweh to the
Bahr-i-Shinafiyeh the old river-channel keeps close underneath this
ridge, which reaches here a height of 50 to 100 ft. From this
point for some 25 m. the edge of the desert recedes, and the river
flows through lake and marsh. A few miles below Kufeh the desert
ridge again comes near the course of the river, in the form of a
tongue or promontory, on which Nejef stands; it then runs NW.,
receding from the river and leaving between itself and the stream
a low plain constantly liable to flood, backed by a desert of sand
and fine gravel. In this plain stands Kerbela, 20 miles W. of the
Euphrates. On the edge of the desert W. of the Bahr-i-Shinafiyeh
and in the neighbourhood of Kerbela are a number of oases, the
largest of which is Sliifatheh, about 30 m. W. of Kerbela.
East of the Hindiyeh to the Hilla Branch lies a plain containing