'Field notes: Mesopotamia. General Staff, India. February, 1917.' [‎83r] (172/350)

157
pod going,
ig gfonud.
3 tract &
following
leaves tte
passing
it on tie
Up to
|1 rom this
' about 3
and the
fissures,
ying and
rom mile
. cflvered
irrigation
; mile 13
if a mile-
i Tigris.
;ps close
•ed mud
About
oatcli of
of very
ver and
ag close
,al take^
k river
is for 80
ion; the
1 fort of
-oad runs
i mile 5
than the
in, which
s shallow
ison, ani
9} &
Be name
rees, are
round 1 5
Kottte No. 7— contd.
reached. At mile 12 A the track runs close to the west of a
ruined 2-towered fort. At mile 13 the ground is low lying and
muddy, and the track runs on a bund alongside the river & bank
for about 400 yards. At mile 14 three ruined towers are passed
on the left of the track, and £ mile further on another is met
with. From here the track runs alongside the river bank over
rather soft ground to camp | mile E. of Sulaiman, which it
reaches at mile 15. The following are the principal canal cuts
met with, when following the track along the river bank: 4
Distance from Camp in
miles.
Breadth
in feet.
Depth,
in feet.
State at the beginning of
February.
2J
16
31
Dry.
31
12
3
5i
15
3
„
8
11
3
„
81
15
3}
„
y
14
4
,,
13f
10
3
»
4 JILAAT HUSSAIN . 12£.—General direction of
stage N.N.E. The
53 track is passable by all
arms and is in dry weather, good going throughout, but after
rain it becomes soft and heavy. There is plenty of scrub and
camel thorn alongside the track, suitable for fuel and camel
grazing. As the floods rise the track becomes flooded and a
line must be taken keeping close to the river bank. From
camp the track winds through scrub and is not easy to follow.
For the first | mile it runs in a northerly direction; it then
turns N.E. and meets the river at mile 3, near a small mud
fort standing on the left bank. At mile 3| the 2-towered mud
fort of Azil Ghazban is passed on the opposite bank of the river.
Up to here the going is good, but the track crosses a succession
of shallow valleys, which become impassable as the floods rise.
At mile 4 a dry canal cut, 15' feet wide and l^- feet deep, is
crossed. From this point the track leaves the river and runs