'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎357v] (717/862)

COMMUNICATIONS
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railway (p. 602) has been built to by-pass both the new Kut lock and
the difficult section of the Tigris from Kut to Baghdad.
Types of inland water craft
The draught of river steamers on the Basra-Baghdad service is
restricted to 4 ft. 6 in. in the high-river season and to 4 feet in the low-
river season. Side-paddle steamers, quarter-wheelers, screw tugs, and
stern-wheelers are used. The draught of barges, which are towed
alongside the steamers, is restricted to 4 feet in the high-river season
and to 3 feet in the low-river season. The principal owners are
British companies, but there are also native-owned steamers and
barges. *
Mahailas and Safinas are native sailing craft much used from Fao
to Baghdad. Their length varies from 30 to 80 feet, their beam from
10 to 25 feet, their draught averages 3 or 4 feet, and their capacity
50 tons. They have one mast provided with a lateen and a stay-sail,
and a high sheer forward and aft. Safinas built at Baghdad are often
coated with bitumen. A very similar vessel, rather smaller but with
shallower draught, is used on the lower Euphrates, particularly on the
Hammar lake, where it is known as a helium. It is a long, narrow,
double-ended, flat-bottomed craft, with an average draught of less
than 1 ft. 6 in. and an average capacity of 5 to 10 tons. Both types are
ancient and are admirable for the waters in which they work. They
are towed upstream, if unable to sail against wind and current, by a
long rope led from the stern through a block at the masthead to the
crew on the bank. There are also many smaller boats, also known as
heliums, used for passengers only in and around Basra and elsewhere,
which may be worked by paddling or poling (photos. 13, 215, 235).
Kelleks are native rafts of timber and brushwood supported on
skin bladders down the upper Tigris, the upper Euphrates, and the
Great and Little Zabs, carrying timber, brushwood, and local supplies.
Quffas are coracles of basket-work coated with pitch, as a rule only
used locally for short journeys, such as ferries. The larger types may
take as many as twenty men. Shakhturs are flat-bottomed roughly
built oblong boats with squared ends, clumsy to handle, about 18 feet
long with i^-foot draught, used downstream on the Euphrates above
Ramadi, and capable of loads up to 5 tons. Mashufs are light craft,
rather like canoes, used in the marsh areas of the lower delta. Danaks
are larger bitumen-covered canoes, capable of loads up to about 10
tons, more often found on the Euphrates than on the Tigris. They
are often used for floating bridges (photos. 182, 214, 216).
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