"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد II. ١٩١٧" [‎٢‎٣‎٥] (٥٤٢/٢٤٤)

EOUTES 8 c, d
23e5
ROUTE 8 d
f ALI EL-GHARBI—DEH LUEAN
Via K uweit
Authorities: —Force 'D' Eoute Eeports and other information of June, July,
and August, 1916.
The account given below of the two routes from e Ali el-Gharbi to
the Tyb near Kuweit describes their condition in July 1916. The
ground traversed is generally level, but is said to be very deceptive,
having folds where men could hide.
The dry river-beds mentioned in Alternative (ii) would prove
obstacles in the rains.
The defile of the Tyb above Kuweit is passable for infantry, cavalry,
and pack-mules in the 1. w. season. In flood time the whole bed is
completely covered with water, and the defile is impassable even for
men going singly on foot. There is apparently no other route practi
cable for troops through the hills in that neighbourhood.
On Alternative (i) between the Tigris and the Tyb river there is no
water fit to be drunk in any quantity. On Alternative (ii) good
water is said to be obtainable in the rainy season (December-March)
in the Kuweiseh river-bed. The Tyb at Kuweit could not be drunk
by men for more than two days together, except perhaps in the
rainy season, when it is said that it might be drunk for a longer
period without ill effects, or unless wells were sunk near the river.
It is said that better water is to be obtained in the hills from
tributaries of the Tyb.
On both routes to Kuweit grazing was found all the way in July,
except at small bare patches here and there. Brushwood for fuel
is not obtainable until the Tyb is reached. No supplies en route.
The grazing near the river is poor. Wood is plentiful from the
brushwood in the river-bed : sticks 3 in. in diameter can be obtained.
Kuweit is a ruined village, now merely a mound, about ^ m. from
the hills. There is good grazing there, but no wood nor water.
The Tyb River, known also in its upper reaches as the Maimah Kiver, rises in
the interior of Pusht-i-Kuh, and has its sources in some large springs 1 m. W.
of Maimah village, which is 54 m. in a direct line from Bedrah on a bearing of
ENE. (72°). After traversing the Deh Luran plain the Tyb finds its way
through the Pusht-i-Kuh foot-hills, and thence debouches on to the Mesopo-
tamian plain. From the neighbourhood of Kuweit it proceeds in a southerly
direction, forming a marsh in the plain, and coming to within a few miles
of Amara. Short of that place the marsh turns E., and the waters of the Tyb