'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎54v] (113/862)

sassMsaaseisi
64 GEOLOGY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE LAND
Marshlands between Nasiriya and Amara. The old channel of the
Euphrates which entered the Tigris at Qurna is fairly well defined in
the low-water season. But at flood time most of the country on either
side is submerged and almost the whole triangle of country between
Nasiriya, Amara, and Qarmat Ali may be under shallow water,
traversed by uncharted channels, the position of which is known only
to the marsh Arabs. Much of the more permanent marsh is over
grown with reeds, and the skilled boatman alone may find the channel
of deeper water by noting the change in density of the reed-beds.
Some of these reeds, the giant mardi, grow to a height of 25 feet;
others, shorter and stout but pliable, are used by the Arabs for their
huts. It is easy to become lost in these marshes; the solitude is
intense, there are few landmarks, and a mashuf leaves no track
through the reeds. There are, however, occasional clearings with
settlements of marsh Arabs, and some rather more permanent
hamlets and watch-towers on higher ground surrounded by rice-
fields and a few palms.
Northwards the marshy area becomes less continuous except for
a long belt of permanent water bordering the Tigris. To the west of
this belt considerable areas dry up in summer. Then the ground
becomes sun-baked and cracked. Little is known of this desert
country beyond what is shown on the quarter-inch map. Most of it
is barren desert with traces of ancient settlements and abandoned
canals, though there is grazing after the winter rains. Between it and
the Tigris are the perennial Haur Auda and Haur Umm al Baqr, a
continuous expanse of water and marsh fed by the Nahrs Butaira and
Tabar (p. 52) and in the flood season by the overflow from the great
Haur Sanniya on the north. During this period this marsh may be
10 miles wide or more, and it takes some 6 hours to cross it by
mashuf.
A narrow strip of harder and higher ground borders the Tigris on
the west and takes the motor road, but from Qurna to within about
8 miles of Qala Salih there is barely room for the road at many places.
A few sandhills stand up from the marshes. This was the scene of
General Townshend’s battle for Amara on 31 May 1915 when his
infantry attacked across the flooded country in heliums (p. 275). From
Qala Salih northwards to Amara the water is better controlled and
there are numerous small reed-built hamlets which are surrounded
by rich rice cultivation, irrigated by branch distributaries of the
Butaira and Tabar canals.
The country east of the Tigris is also mostly under water. Here