'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III. PART I: A to K' [‎17r] (38/1278)

Ktit Bandar, w6 may estimate that the distance by river is between twice
and three times as great. The Ab-i-Diz, then leaving Kut ’Abd-ush-Shah,
is joind from the north at some 246 miles by the ’Aurtib stream. This-
latter is a permanent stream which has its sources in a spring near Kaleh
Qazi and joins the Diz river some miles below Kut ’Abd-ush-Shah. At
about 260 miles the Kahunak or Shureh river also flows into the Ab-i-Diz
from the left ; at 269 miles, where Um Kathir is passed, the Sabz Ab adds
its quota to the river ; and at Kut Bandar, which is reached after a course
of some 275 miles, the Mukhaibat also pours its water into that of the
Ab-i-Diz. At this point a rocky ridge, not more than 100 feet high, i&
pierced by the river in its course : this ridge is named Umm-ul-’Ayal. As
the river approaches the Karun, its banks contain some forest, and 13 miles-
from Band-i-Qlr the Shavur river (vide this Gazetteer) joins it from the
north-west. Finally, the Ab-i-Diz empties itself into the river Karun at
Band-i-Qir, and loses its identity as a separate river after a total course
of some 360 miles.
The fall of the river appears to the eye to be more rapid than that of
the Shatait or the Gargar. It cuts its way through the alluvial plain
between steep banks, rising 10 to 20 feet above flood-level, outside of which
there is no marked valley or basin. The true banks are frequently several
hundred yards apart at bends, and their re-entrant angles are occupied by
low mud deposits covered with scrub jungle. From about 18 miles south
of Dizffil to within about the same distance of its junction with the Karun,
the course of the Diz lies through a belt of brushwood, not usually more than
2 or 3 miles wide and in places less, with frequent breaks through which
glimpses are caught of limitless plains. TreeS from 30 to 40 feet in height
are scattered through this jungle, yet there is no wood fit for anything but
fuel; the principal trees and shrubs are the Gharab or Euphrates poplar, the
Sarim, the tamarisk, the blackberry, and the liquorice-bush or Sus.
Fuel for the steamers on the Karun, for the towns of Shushtar and Nasirl
and to a certain extent for Dizful town, is obtained from this tract.
The climate of the Diz country is undoubtedly much more humid than
that of ’ Arabistan generally, and in spring there is abundant pasturage upon
both sides of the river. Fuel and fodder are obtainable, and the Arabs in the
neighbourhood own numbers of buffaloes, cattle and sheep. On the left bank
above Kut Bandar there is much irrigated cultivation of wheat and barley..
The settled villages of the upper Diz will be found in the article on
Dizful district ; the last is Khaneh-i-Farhan, already mentioned, below
which the country is occupied by nomads of the ’Anafijeh and Ai Kathir
tribes.
In a favourable state of the river there is no obstacle to navigation, ex
cept a strong current, between Band-i-Qir and Kut Bandar, which lies 85
miles above it by water. At Kut Bandar the channel is interrupted by a
reef of rock ; the reef is pierced, however, by an opening about 20 yards from
the left bank, which in a good river carries from 4| to 6 feet of water, but is
somewhat difficult owing to the strong current. A little higher up there is
a second reef, but the soundings Measurements of the depth of a body of water. in the passage through it are better. Above
Kut Bandar, in consequence of a steeper incline of the bed, the current is more
rapid ; the depth also is less, and the gravelly and, in places, rocky nature of