'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎85r] (174/862)

DESCRIPTION OF THE LAND
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region of the Sawara Tuka pass. The deep narrow trough of the
Rozah Shor at the lower end of its valley separates this range, at its
eastern end, from the southern outliers of the Ghara Dagh. It is from
3 to 7 miles wide and varies between 4,000 and 5,500 feet above sea-
level, the highest peak (Berman Dagh) being 5,485 feet. The moun
tains are deeply dissected by streams draining into the Rozah Shor,
to the north, and to the Gomel Su in the south-west, so that the spurs
are mostly cliff-sided, with wide shelves, saddles, and gently tilted
roofs and plateaux. The Berman Dagh in the east is the only long
high ridge; it has gentle slopes to the north, but the southern face is
exceedingly steep. The range is crossed northward by a mule track
from Barash, a village on a head-stream of the Rubai Atrush (or upper
Gomel Su), while another leads over the Berman ridge at 4,000 feet,
from the village of Khorit to the defile of the Rozah Shor, beyond
which it becomes a foot-track. The Khazir forms a winding and in
accessible defile at the eastern end of the range.
The Aqra Dagh continues the line to the east of the Khazir at a
height of 3,000 feet, gradually rising and forming a very definite ridge
of 4,000 feet with summits of 4>5° 0 an< ^ 5> 000 ^ ee ^- (P^a Ser,
north of Aqra town) farther east. The range is 18 miles long and
2 or 3 miles wide, and is less complex than Chiyakira Dagh; its slopes
form a gaunt rocky wall broken only by a defile leading to the Gali
Khika pass (3,630 ft.), from which a wild foot-track leads down
into the valley of the Bare Shor. The town of Aqra lies partly on a
col to the south of the range. The Bereshu river has eaten its way
into the mountains in another gorge about 4 miles east of Aqra,
between the Aqra Dagh and Berat Dagh.
The Berat Dagh on the west is a wide, gently sloping plateau of
3,000 feet, above which there are summits of 4,000 feet, it gradually
rises eastward, first to 4,000 and then 5,000 feet, to form a high rocky
wall with summits of 4,765 and 5 >394 ^ eet - west it is crossed by
two tracks from the south which meet at Amadan in the upper
Bereshu valley. It is about 2 miles wide and stretches eastward for
17 miles from the Bereshu gorge, ending abruptly with an almost
sheer face of black rock on the western side of the great Bekhme
gorge.
The Ghara Dagh forms a long narrow range which extends east-
south-east for 20 miles. It divides the waters which flow north into
the Sipna Nihail tributary of the Zab from those which flow south
into the Khazir, and is flanked by outlying parallel ridges on either
side. The main ridge, from 2 to 3 miles wide, is from 5,000 to 7,000