May 11, 1857.] RAWLINSON ON MOHAM'RAH. 361 



communication with Moham'rah, and if such shotild prove to be the 

 case — if General Outram, that is, did canton his troops at Ahwaz 

 during the summer, and there were any further affairs with the 

 enemy, which might make it of interest to the Society to hear more 

 of the geography of the upper part of the river, he should be happy 

 on a future occasion to communicate what he knew. 



The President was glad they had returned thanks so heartily to Sir 

 Henry Rawlinson for his remarkable communication. Sir Henry had the 

 advantage of being a great critical scholar, of having accurately studied, not 

 only the histories of ancient times, but of having compared all these sites, so 

 famous in ancient history, with their actual condition in the present day. 

 He really came before them as an antiquarian, as a physical and, he might 

 say, a political geographer, and that last feature in his character had perhaps 

 most interested the Society upon the occasion. For his own part, he would 

 not dwell one moment upon the very valuable communication which had been 

 offered to their consideration. 



General Monteith, f.r.g.s., said, when he was in the country, it was 

 then a doubtful point whether Moham'rah belonged to Persia or Turkey. It 

 was after the mission to which he was attached had finished their labours 

 that the Persians took possession of Moham'rah. The Sheik of Chaab possesses 

 lands in both Persia and Turkish Arabia, and never paid tribute without 

 being coerced. Mahomed, the great Sheik, dug a canal from the Karun to the 

 Persian Gulf, to avoid paying the customs to Turkey. The mouth of the 

 canal was still open near the small village of Sabla. He also constructed a 

 bund which was broken by Kerim Khan after his capture of Busrah. The 

 temperature of the Karun in summer is 20° lower than the Euphrates. 

 General Monteith next spoke of the physical features of the country, and, with 

 reference to the Karun, stated that in ascending that river to Ahwaz he met 

 with the remains of a sluice, which, if a lock were made, would afford com- 

 munication as far as Shuster. Respecting the passage into the interior. Gene- 

 ral Monteith said the route from Shuster to Disful was over a beautiful country, 

 perfectly easy for artillery or anything else. But the march from Shuster, 

 which was the line followed by Alexander, offered obstacles still more difficult 

 than the passes to Shiraz. For a distance of 90 miles the country was desti- 

 tute of water. From Ahwaz it was 64 miles across a desert, till you came 

 into the valley of Ormuz ; then, from that point, you might pass on, without 

 any great obstacle, to the beautiful valleys of Sir-ab-Sea and Fallian, than 

 which nothing could be more lovely, nothing more delightful than the climate. 

 But here was a pass fully as difiScult, if not more so, than any of the passes 

 between Shiraz and Bushir. He surveyed the passes between Bushir and 

 Shiraz, and, with some labour, he thought they were capable of being made 

 passable for artillery, provided possession were taken of the heights, which 

 must be done by whatever pass is taken. 



Mr. Crawfurd, f.r.g.s., had only to make a short explanation respecting 

 what passed the other night upon the indigo question. Sir Henry Eawlinson 

 fancied that he considered indigo the sole product of India. That was not 

 what he intended to convey. All he meant to say was, that, of all parts of 

 Asia, India was the only country in which a marketable indigo could be pro- 

 duced. He ventured to say that the Bussora indigo would not fetch sixpence 

 in the pound in the London market, while the indigo of Bengal and of Guate- 

 mala would fetch five and six shillings. He should like also to ask Sir Henry 

 Eawlinson, what he thought could induce Alexander the Great to plant Greek 

 colonies in such a climate as had been described, or how he could bring himself 



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