'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.' [‎60] (107/905)

60
SHATT EL 'ARAB, AND RIVER KERKHAH. [CHAP. III.
Below Sheikh el Shuyukh, the largest and most important
town permanently occupied by the Arabs on the line of the
Euphrates, the river turns nearly eastward, and the banks
Velocity near being very low, it again forms a kind of delta, extending to
Kurnah, which is 62| miles by water, or 49f miles nearly
due east, 1 direct from Sheikh el Shuyukh. Within that
distance the river preserves the same breadth as before; its
depth is 18 feet, and it has a current, in the season of floods,
of two miles per hour, independently of the tide, which is
slightly felt all the way.
Town of The walled town of Kurnah contains about 800 houses,
disposed along the right bank of the Tigris and the left of
that of the Euphrates. It fluctuates as to size, and it was
larger in 1831 than we found it in 1836 and 1837. It is
chiefly constructed of reed-mats, and is on part of the sup
posed site of ancient Apamea; which probably stood within
the line of walls still extending across the peninsula formed
where the two great rivers cease to be known by their
individual names.
Union of the The Euphrates and Tigris, now forming one tidal channel,
Euphrates and a } mogt a m il e wide, take nearly a straight course,
S. 37° E., under the well known appellation of Shatt el Arab,
and when five miles below Kurnah their united waters receive
those of the Kerah, or Kerkhah, which, coming from the
mountains of Ardelan, through an extensive tract of country,
passes a short distance westward of the ruins of Susa, and
likewise of the town of Hawizah. 2
After receiving this accession, the Shatt el Arab flows
through date-groves and near several villages, chiefly on the
left bank, and at length arrives opposite Basrah, which is
39^ miles by the river, and 36 miles S. 34° E. direct from
Kurnah. In the whole of this distance there are but two
islands, both of them large; and the river has an average
width of 600 yards, with a depth of 21 feet; it has a current
of two knots per hour during the flowing, and three knots
per hour during the ebb tide.
1 S. 99° E.
2 This river will be found more fully described in the Chapter on Khuzistdn.
Tigris.
The Shatt el
'Arab.