'Field Notes on Lower Mesopotamia' [‎10v] (27/112)

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West Bank of
Shatt-al-Arab.
vated. There are many creeks and some
marshes^ and island is not suit-
able for the movement of troops. The
refining works of the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company are on the island, facing the
Shatt-el-Arab, about 8 miles below
Muhammareh.
(ii) Part of the Muhammareh district; and
part of the Basrah Qaza. The margin
of the river is covered by a practically
continuous line of date-groves, having a
depth inland of from J to 2 miles. East
of the date-groves is a flat low-lying
alluvial plain, usually called desert, but
it is fairly well watered, and consists to a
great extent of grass or cultivable land.
Infantry could march from Muham
mareh to a point opposite Basrah, by
keeping 2 or 3 miles inland from the bank
of the Shatt-el-Arab. The Shatt-al-
Arab would then have to be crossed to
reach Basrah. Two streams and several
muddy creeks would have to be crossed.
(c) The right or western hank of the river .—The
margin of the river is covered by a practi
cally continuous line of date-groves, having
a depth inland of from | to 2 miles. There
are some deep muddy creeks, some of
which extend inland for a considerable
distance from the river Shatt-el-Arab.
There is a ten-foot tide in the lower Shatt-