'Handbook of the Persian Army' [‎16v] (37/150)

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rain and melting snow. It is generally 25—30 yards
wide and 4—5 feet deep with a muddy bottom. There
is a stone bridge on the Hamadan road about 3 miles
from the town and a rickety wire suspension bridge
for foot passengers on the road from the town of
Taq-i-Bostan. It is also bridged where the old and
new Tehran-Qum roads cross it.
Zindeh Rud rises in the Bakhtiari mountains on the
opposite side of the watershed to the Karun river,,
flows past Isfahan, and then loses itself in the marsh
of Gav Khaneh about 80 miles eastwards. It is
crossed by 13 bridges, of which 5 are at Isfahan.
Numbers of irrigation channels draw off its water.
Kur (Band Amir) rises in the Dina Mountains and
flows S.-E. to Lake Niriz. At about 30 miles north
of Shiraz, the road thence to Isfahan crosses this river
by the Pul-i-Khan, a bridge with two main arches
of irregular size and shape. Here the river runs
swiftly, though elsewhere it is slow and deep. It is-
generally unfordable. The water is fairly good.
Eight miles below Pul-i-Khan is the dam of Asad-ud-
Douleh upon wdiich stands a bridge of 13 arches, 120'
yards in length. Five more dams divert the water
lower down, but the residue reaches Lake Niriz.
(e) Rivers draining into the Sistan Hamuns.
The Helmand, Farah Rud, Harut Rud and Xhash,
Rud converge and discharge their waters into the
Hamuns of Sistan. They are all Afghan rivers, but
the Helmand forms part of the Perso-Afghan frontier
and irrigates Sistan. The best fords over the
Helmand are always at the bars or shallows of the
river. Heavy floods, by moving the gravel and
boulders in the river bed, completely alter the posi
tion of the less important fords, but do not affect the
important ones. The Helmand becomes unfordable-
for loaded camels, owing to rains, nearly a month
before the end of the winter. Towards the end of
March it is usually well in flood and impassable to
equestrians owing to rainfall and melting snow. The
river rises to its maximum flood level towards the
middle or end of April, or at latest early in May,.