"ملاحظات ميدانية: بلاد الرافدين. هيئة الأركان العامة في الهند. فبراير ١٩١٧". [و‎‎١‎٠‎٩] (٣٥٠/٢٢٤)

Route No. 20— contd.
ing one into the other. In these are the usual arched cubicles
with stables behind them. The outer walls of the enclosures-
are 18 feet high; and as there are parapets above the roofs of
the stables, the whole could be easily defended against rifle fire.
There is accommodation for 500 horses and 1,000 men. Besides-
the large enclosure there are 2 or 3 small khans and about
50 ordinary mud houses. Water is from wells and is said to be
always sufficient, but food and fodder are scanty. To the
south of the place is sandy desert, and to the north and east of
it are about 400 date trees.
-Votf Thainl riders and others do this journey in one stage and travel direct
to £aTf' without touching at°Khan Hamad. By so doing the distance is reduced
to about 46 miles.
3 KHAN MUSSALA . 12.—S.S.E. The road is
(or KHAN MIRZA) sandy for some dist-
36 ance* after leaving
Khan Hamad : it runs between the pure desert on the right and
low-lying lands, connected with the Hindiyah, on the left;'
these last are liable to inundation, but have good grazing during
the cold season. About 3 miles short of Khan Musalla the
going becomes better.
^Here is a large walled enclosure, containing two ciaravan-
sarais which lead one into the other. Outside are 2 small
khans and a few coffee shops; and about 200 yards to the east
wards are some 30 Arab huts. The place would hold 800 horses'
and 600 men, but there are practically no supplies. Water is
obtained from wells and from a canal which comes from the
Shatt-al-Hindiyah.
4 NAJAF . . . 11.—S.S.E. From Khan
Musalla to Najaf the
47 road lies over fine sand
and the going is heavy.
At mile 11 Najaf, a town of some 30,000 inhabitants, situ
ated on a ridge of a reddish sandstone and gravel. It has walls
about 30 feet high with circular bastions every 100 yards some
50 feet in diameter. They are gradually falling to ruin. The
water-supply of the place is from the Hamidiyah canal, which
runs along the base of the ridge. Water for washing is obtained
from the Bahr-an-Najaf, but is brackish. There are a few date