"استطلاعات في بلاد الرافدين وكردستان وشمال غرب بلاد فارس ولرستان في الفترة من أبريل إلى أكتوبر ١٨٨٨، كتبها المقدم ف. ر. مونسيل، فرع الاستخبارات. يوجد مجلدان. المجلد الأول: تقرير سردي ووصف للمدن الكبرى والطرق المؤدية منها. شيملا: فرع الاستخبارات، إدارة قائد الإمداد والتموين، ١٨٩٠" [ظ‎‎٦‎٧] (٣١٢/١٣٩)

Route No. VIII— Rawanduz to Amadiyeh, via the Great Zab
Valley,.
25lh May to 1st June.
Stages.
Hours
marching.
Distance, in miles.
Rate in
miios per
hour.
Interme
diate.
Total.
Koniatman
» •«
600
15
15
2-50
Great Zab River
...
4*00
14
29
3-50
Bisil
...
5'33
15
44
2-81
Bila Keupri ...
...
...
...
6'25
17*5
61*5
2 80
Shinea Serna
...
...
...
516
15
76*5
2*90
Latka
• ••
...
...
5*00
13
89*5
2 60
Amadiyeh
...
...
7*66
25*5
115*0
3*34
25 th May—General direction, E, Left Rawanduz at 5-0 a.m. The
mules had some difficulty in ascending* the steep, narrow streets.
Passed through the gardens and the village of Kalateluk, which overlook
the town.
We followed a broad, well-made road for a short way, and at I 4 miles des
cended a narrow valley crossed by steep shaly spurs from the Gurrak Dagh on
one side, and divided from the River Gorge, on the other, by a perpendicular
wall of limestone 500 feet high. In this is a rift through which a small
stream passes.
The lower slopes of the Gurrak Dagh to the south are covered with low trees
and brushwood/ with a few vineyards. The summit of the range is about
6,500' above sea level. The telegraph (1 wire'on wooden poles) to Erbil and
Mosul "oes over a spur of this range, and not down the Serderria Pass. At
5 miles^we reached the crest of the ridge (3,215') and a deep gorge, bordered
by precipices 1,500 feet high, lay immediately to the right, at the base of which
the Rawanduz River forced its way through the mountain.
Serderria Pass .—The descent into .this gorge is a series of short zigzags
and windings, taking advantage of projecting spurs and the lie of the strata
in the cliffs. The road is paved, and is in good order; with some places
6 feet wide, but the average is from 8 to 10 feet, with a coping of
rough blocks on the outer edge. Some of the zigzags are only 8 to 10 yards
Iono*. The sides of the gorge are a series of cliffs with steep terraces between
them ; the river flows in a channel from 30 to 40 yards wide at the bottom.
The Turks talk of making a road along the river bank. It is practicable, but
a good deal of cutting among the clay and boulders would be required; the
steep ascent over the ridge would then be avoided.
The length of the descent following the windings is 3 miles 6 furlongs. The
mules took 2 j hours. I walked down in li hours; but the ascent, of course,
would take longer. The descent is 1,635 feet, and it is called the Serderria Pass.
Eield artillery might be dragged up by hand, but it would be difficult
work. The pass can be turned by a track over the rounded spur of the Gurrak
Dagh to the south, following the line of telegraph.
At the foot of the descent the road turns west, leaving the valley of the
Rawanduz river, and entering that of a small tributary, the Ghalifan Su,