'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎37] (82/905)

CHAP. II.] SHATT IBRAHIM AND THE LOWER TIGRIS. 37
after a course of about 140 miles from Kut el 'amarah. The
banks are inliabited, and, owing to the inundations and the
facilities of irrigation, the country is easily cultivated at those
places. It is navigable during eight months of the year, and
at that season the canal is preferred by the boatmen to the
passage along the main stream, on account of the heavy dues
exacted by the Bern Lam Arabs. 1
The Tigris appears to preserve its original size, notwith
standing the diminution of its waters in consequence of the
canal diverging from it: in all the remainder of its course,
which is in a direction E. by N., its average width is 200 yards.
A few miles below Kut may be traced the ancient bed of
a branch, now dry, running in a S.S.E. direction through s
the ruins of Wasit, and onwards from thence, in the same
direction, under the name of Shatt Ibrahim, till it enters the
Euphrates, about midway between the Ha'i and Kurnah.
This appears to have been the bed of the river described as
passing between the two towns of Wasit, which were in
former times connected by a bridge of boats ; 2 and the state
of the ruins on each side, as well as the size of the ancient
bed, confirm the opinion. 3 It is, however, probable that this
was merely a previous derivation, which gradually became
dry after the waters had taken the course of the Hai, on the
banks of which the people of Wasit then settled, at the spot
now bearing the same name.
The course of the Tigris below the Hai is, as we haveo,^
already observed, E. by N., and it preserves that W-
under the name of Shatt el 'amarah, for about 28 miles; it
then turns S. by W. for an additional distance of 32 miles,
or as far as a spot close to Imam Gharbi, where it has reached
its greatest distance from the Euphrates ; this point being
95 miles in a direct line S. 22° W. from a bend near Ummu-l-
Huntah, on the latter river. At 66 miles by water, S. 57° E.
^ As the Expedition passed up and down the main river only, the preceding
account of the Hai is chiefly taken from the Journal of bayid Ah. one of
the interpreters belonging to the Expedition. „
• MS. translations of AW-Med4 a "" b \ el - W ,^;
• These were examined by Messrs. Ormsby and EUiott in 1830 and 1831.