'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎115v] (235/862)

COASTS OF THE PERSIAN GULF The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
!52
Abadan island is the low desert plain, 40 miles long, between the
Shatt al Arab to the south-west and the Bahmishir to the north-east;
at its north-west end is the artificial Haffar channel, about 2^ miles
long, cut to link the Karun river with the Shatt al Arab (p. 53).
The island is bordered by date-groves and cultivation, except on the
seaward side which is swampy. The large oil refinery and port of the
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company are at Abadan and Bawarda in the north
west part of the island; the oil is pumped through pipe-lines from the
oilfields at Masjid-i-Sulaiman, Haft-Kel, and Gach Saran. The water-
supply for refinery purposes is provided by the Shatt al Arab, but
the drinking-water is filtered from the less contaminated Bahmishir.
There are several tracks across the island and inland of the date-groves.
Abadan and Bawarda are served by motor-roads, with ferries across
the Haffar channel to Khorramshahr and across the Shatt al Arab
to the Fao-Basra road. Abadan has an airfield, aircraft-assembly
plant, and wireless station, and seaplanes and flying-boats can use the
Shatt al Arab (photo. 67).
The Bahmishir is a natural mouth of the Karun river, but most
of the Karun water was diverted to the Shatt al Arab when the Haffar
channel was dug in medieval times, and the upper Bahmishir is now
very shallow.
Khorramshahr (Mohammerah) is on the north bank of the Haffar
channel; it is the chief port of Persia and has a population of 4,500.
It was taken over by the British in August 1941 and is now a naval
and minesweeping base. Vessels anchor in the Shatt al Arab and
discharge to the jetties by barges. Goods are distributed by steamer
up the Karun to the rapids at Ahwaz in wet weather, and by motor
transport in dry weather. There are motor-roads to Basra and to
Tehran, and a single-track railway has recently been built to join
the Iranian railway at Ahwaz. Water is obtained from the river.
The coast between the Bahmishir and Khor Musa, 20 miles east,
is composed of wide tidal mud-flats intersected by shallow channels.
Inland of them are extensive marshes which are usually flooded and
are inhabited by wild-fowl; this district was formerly drained and
cultivated, but in 1765 the dikes were cut as a protection from Persian
invaders, and the plains were reduced to a swamp. Farther inland
are flat plains which are liable to flood in winter but are dry in
summer, with shrubs and coarse grass, and are cultivated by irrigation
or used for grazing: they are inhabited by the Chaab Arabs (p. 261),
who were formerly famous for their horses.
Khor Musa is a deep channel in the tidal mud-flats. It winds