'Field Notes on Lower Mesopotamia' [‎11r] (28/112)

el-Arab, which fills these creeks and prob
ably any inland marshes, but exact infor
mation regarding these marshes is not
available. West of the date-groves, the
country is partly open desert and partly
marshy as far as the Khur Zubair, an arm of
the sea which runs up from Warbah island,
northwards, and nearly parallel to the
Shatt-el-Arab, at a distance of 25 to 30
miles from it. The country between the
river Shatt-el-Arab and the Khur Zubair is
believed to be not very suitable for the
movement of troops, except along one good
track, which runs along the edge of the
desert, immediately behind the fringe of
date-groves. See Communications. Much
of this Peninsula (on which Fao stands)
is the private property of the Shaikhs of
Kuwait and Muhammareh, though it
is Turkish Territory. West of the Khur
Zubair again there is open desert, the
going ever which is reported to be firm
and good. The northern part of the Khur
is- surrounded partly by a marshy plain,
much intersected by creeks, and partly
by an alluvial plain which is liable to
inundation.
(d) North of Bzsrah, up to and beyond Qurneh,
nearly the whole country is marshy, liable
to inundation, and quite unsuitable for the
movement of troops. There are, however*
several tracks through these shallow marsh-