"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد II. ١٩١٧" [‎٢‎١‎٨] (٥٤٢/٢٢٧)

218
LAND ROUTES
and much cooler than at Mohammareh. Rain seldom falls before
December, but may occur in November; the heavy rains fall during
the early part of the year.
There is a fairly large amount of cultivation along the route, and
probably after the harvest large supplies of corn could be collected.
Water is from the Karun and, after rain, from pools. The Karun
water is always sweet, and although very thick in the first five
months of the year, it soon settles. Grazing is plentiful if there has
been sufficient rain. Fuel, mainly tamarisk bushes, is very scarce
some is obtainable from the Diz River. Large stocks of fuel for the
steamboat are to be found at Ahwaz, Band-i-Qir, and Shaleili.
Miles from
Ahwaz
o
2
16
25i
28
Ahwaz. General direction NE, over ground in parts liable
to inundation. Oil pipe-line and telephone accompany
route.
Road and Persian T.L. go off to the E. to Borazjun
Ramuz and Behbehan. See vol. iii,
1910, no. 65.
Wais village. Good halting-place, supplies plentiful.
Lynch road to Isfahan takes off to E. See
Persia, vol. iii, 1910, no. 69. General direction northerly.
Kut en-Naddafiyeh. Here pipe-line and road to Maidan-
i-Naftun take off to NE. At about m. 9 on the road to
Maid an-i-Naftun a road to Shushtar, passable for vehicles,
is marked on recent maps as branching off to N.: it runs
on the E. side of the Ab-i-Gargar.
Band-i-Qir, Arab village, 300 inhabitants (so reported some
years ago : but the population may have grown as a
result of the oil traffic). Supplies fairly plentiful.
Large caravanserai which before the war was deserted
and semi-ruinous. Opposite Band-i-Qir is a bridge
of 8 flat-bottomed boats, each 80 ft. in length and
9 ft. in beam. The roadway is 12 ft. broad, and the
bridge is 60 yds. long. The bridge is constructed in
two halves, either of which can be removed for the
passage of boats. There are high and low approaches to
the bridge, which are used in winter and summer
respectively. The bridge is used by the Oil Company's
carts and motor-cars, and would present no obstacles to
artillery. For the route from Band-i-Qir to Dizful by
the Ab-i-Diz see note at end of route, and for an" alterna
tive route to Shushtar see under m. 65 below.