"ملاحظات ميدانية: بلاد الرافدين. هيئة الأركان العامة في الهند. فبراير ١٩١٧". [ظ‎‎٩‎٦] (٣٥٠/١٩٩)

KMHWVBBMMHM
184
Route No. 10 — contd .
lorries; it runs at the southern foot of low ridges for the first
10£ miles, afterwards gradually diverging.
General direction north-west, passing wells of Umm-ul-
Haiyil, } mile north of track at 4J miles, perennial wells 20',
30' deep plenty of camel thorn near by.
At nine miles sandhills of Raml-i-Shumakh-Neh lie miles
south; they afford abundant cover to cavalry and infantry,
and are passable, though with difficulty by the former; height
about 60 feet, they form a triangle with sides about 2 miles
long, re-entrant formed on south being good gun position.
Water lies in pools till end of March, sometimes later, and is
obtained from shallow wells dug by Arabs each year in the
sand. The only other place where water is found is Tal-i-Zibid
and Deh Diz, 2 miles south of Raml-Shumukhneh, where there
are wells like those at Umm-ul-Haiyil.
At 10 miles an isolated clump of rocks some 6 ; high is passed
just south of the track; this is the point where the track to
Kut Saiyid Ali diverges from that running to Kut Nahr Hashin.
At about this point the white domed shrine of Muhsin on the
right bank of the Karkhah opposite Kut Nahr Hashin becomes
visible, and cultivation (unirrigated) begins.
At 15-| miles the track which is not well marked, approaches
the dry bed of the old Karkhah. The sides of this would
require ramping almost everywhere for wheeled traffic, but are
passable for cavalry every few hundred yards and for infantry
-everywhere.
There is extensive wheat cultivation round here and remains
of old canals which afford some cover, but present no serious
obstacle.
At about 17|- miles the deserted village of D-eh Saiyid Musa
stands on the right bank of the dry bed of the Karkhah and is a
good landmark to steer for from the rocks mentioned above.
At 18 miles the dry bed is crossed. This consists of a deep cut
ting some 20' deep and 30 yards wide, filled in in places with
brushwood. The bed is hard almost all the year round and
consists of mud covered with grass.
The track continues over flat desert till it strikes the Karkhah
:at 21 miles at a point where the river makes a sharp salient.
■Mlto