"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد II. ١٩١٧" [‎١‎٤‎٦] (٥٤٢/١٥٥)

146
RIVER ROUTES
EOUTE IV C
SAMAWEH TO MUSEYIB
Authorities: —Lorimer, Gazetteer of the Per 1908;
Region between Baghdad and the Persian 1911 ; Field
1915 ; other information from various sources.
From. Samaweh, Museyib lies about NNW., and between the
two towns the Euphrates runs in two great branches, the distance
by river being on the westernmost or Hindiyeh Branch about 167 in.,
on the eastern or Hilla Branch about 173 m. The naYigation
channel before the war followed the Hindiyeh Branch.
Hilla and Hindiyeh Branches. —This great bifurcation of the river
is of very ancient date, and may be traced back as far as the history
of the country is known. The volume of water has at different
periods shifted from one branch to the other, according as one or
other of the channels has silted up or its moutb become obstructed.
Some forty years ago the Hilla Branch carried by far the larger
proportion of the water and was universally regarded as the main
channel of the Euphrates: the Hindiyeh Branch was looked upon as
little more than an irrigation channel. The closing of the head of the
Saqlawiyeh Channel, a short distance above Eellujeh, increased very
considerably the volume of water flowing past Museyib. The result
was that the mouth of the Hindiyeh Branch gradually widened, and
by 1886 was reported to be 85 yds. broad. In spite of the efforts of the
Turkish Government, which constructed a dam of loose rubble and
cement a short distance below the site of the present barrage, by 1903
the mouth of the Hindiyeh Branch had reached the width of 200 yards.
The immediate effect of the Turkish Government's barrage had been to
raise the level of the Hilla Branch by some 6 or 7 ft., and to cause
one-third of the total volume of water to pass down it, though two-
thirds still pursued the course of the Hindiyeh. This rectification was
completely neutralized by the bursting of the new dam in July 1903,
in consequence of which the water rushed at once into the Hindiyeh
Branch. The result was that the Hilla Branch was left dry, except
for a few weeks in the high-water season, and the boat-bridge at
Hilla w*as seen in September 1908 lying on the dry bed of the river.
This state of things at once proved disastrous for cultivation along the
Hilla Branch, and the Government engaged Sir W. Willcocks (who
had recently constructed the great barrage on the Nile at Assouan) to