349 



TIGRIS. 



TIGRia 



850 



of Kharput IB described in the article ARMEKIA, vol. i. cole. 513, 514 

 At Palu, on the northern side of the plain, the river in the month of 

 July is 100 yards wide and the current very rapid : there is a ford 

 opposite the town, but intricate and precarious. Below Palu the 

 Murad receives a considerable feeder on the right, which is called 

 the Perez-Su, and carries down the drainage of a considerable portion 

 of the Dujik Mountains. A few miles below the junction of the 

 Perez-Su the river turns north-west, and flows in that direction through 

 a mountainous country for about 50 miles to its junction with the 

 Kara-Su, or Western Euphrates, a little above the village and lead- 

 mines of Kebban-Maden, and near the point indicated by 39" N. lat., 

 39" E. long. Where the Murad turns north-westward, below the 

 junction of the Perez-Su, a small stream flowing eastward enters the 

 river at this its most southern point, flowing through the plain of 

 Kharput, and past the village of Alshan. Here the Murad is not 

 more than 25 miles from the source of the Tigris. 



The Kara Su, or Western Euphrates, rises, according to Mr. Abbott, 

 at Domlu, 74 hours N.N.E. from Erzrum. Two hours below Domlu 

 the stream enters the plain of Erzrum, through which it flows from 

 cast to west for about 40 miles. It there receives a torrent flowing 

 from Kara-Kulak to the east, and the united stream turning to the 

 south descends through a ravine into the plain of Tergan. The south 

 boundary of the plain of Erzrum is formed by the mountains already 

 noticed under the names Bingol-Tag and Dujik-Tag; the northern 

 boundary by a range of highlands, continuations of the Antitaurus, 

 which divide the basin of the Euphrates from the rivers which flow 

 into the Black Sea. At the point where the river quits the plain of 

 Erzrum it is 100 yards broad in the month of October. The plain of 

 Terjan, at the lower end of the ravine by which the Kara-Su escapes 

 from the plain of Erzrum, lies considerably lower, and has a much 

 milder climate than the table-land about Erzrum. In the lower plain 

 the Kara-Su receives the Mama-Khatun (a considerable stream, which 

 rises in the Bingol-Tag near the sources of the Aras), and becomes a 

 considerable river, fordable only in few places even in the driest 

 season. From the plain of Tergan the course of the Kara-Su to its 

 junction with the Murad-Chai, a distance of about 130 miles, is in a 

 general south-west direction, through a succession of difficult mountain 

 puses and narrow but fertile plains, which are described in the article 

 AKMEMA (vol. L cols. 511,512). From Erzingan (which gives name 

 to the fine plaiu of Erzingan) to Kemakh, a distance of about 26 miles, 

 the Kara-Su flows through a mountain defile, having the Dujik range 

 on the left, and on the right mountains all but precipitous. Imme- 

 diately above Kemakh the river forces its way through a deep narrow 

 chasm ; and just before it precipitates its waters into this rent in the 

 mountains it receives the Keumer-Su from the west, a stream by which 

 great quantities of wood are floated down. The Keumer-Su descend* 

 from the plain of Divrigi, about 60 miles to the west, and 3116 feet 

 above the sea. The valley of the Keumer-Su has a considerable 

 declivity, and the Kara-Su must therefore havo sunk at tho point of 

 their junction much below its level in the plain of Erzrum. 



From Kemakh to Egiu is a distance of nearly 43 miles. There is 

 sufficient water in the Kara-Su between Kemakh and Egin to render 

 it navigable fur boats, but the frequent rapids, rocks, and shoals 

 impede tho navigation. At Egin the mountains rise from the banks 

 of the river by a steep slope, which is terminated by abrupt precipices ; 

 the whole height of the mountains above the stream may be about 

 4000 feet, and the valley is so narrow that they seem to overhang the 

 town. From Egin to the confluence of the Kara-Su and Mura<l- 

 Chai (about 35 miles), and thence to Kebban-Maden (about 5 miles 

 farther), the channel of the river is obstructed by shoals and rocks 

 and only employed in floating timber-rafts. At the ferry ncnr 

 Kebban-Maden the river is about 120 yards wide, deep, and rapid. 

 The elevation of the confluence of the Kara-Su and Murad- 

 Chai baa not been ascertained, but it seems to be about 2700 feet 

 above the level of tbo Black Sea. Below the confluence of its two 

 head streams, near Kebban-Maden, the Euphrates follows the direction 

 of the Kara-Su, and flows south-west through a naked mountainous 

 country ; and, after sweeping to the westward and half encircling the 

 remarkable peninsula of Abdu-1'Wahab, formed by the rocky heights 

 of Munphar, it receives the Tokhmah-Su at the pass of Iz-Oglu, the 

 ancient Elegia, and takes an easterly bend to pas* through the Taurus, 

 between the rocky mountains of Bhagli-Khanli and the Beg-Tagb. 

 The Tokhmah-Su rises more to the west than any other affluent of 

 the Euphrates. The Injeh-Su and the Balikli-Su, which by their 

 junction form this river, have their sources about 304 E. long., and 

 between 384 and 39 N. 1st., about 4000 to 5000 feet above the sea. 

 The Tokhioah-Su has a course of upwards of 100 miles, and runs a 

 little to the northward of Malatiyab, which is about 12 miles from the 

 right bank of the Euphrates. 



Xear the ferry of Fez-Oglu, a few miles below the confluence of 

 the Tokhmah-Su, the Euphrates precipitates itself through a gap in 

 the mountains which extend from east to west between the Murad 

 and the> Upper Tigris, and curves through them with a general easterly 

 direction to Gergen-Kalesbi, a distance of about 45 miles. In this 

 part of its course the stream is hemmed in by lofty precipices and 

 interrupted by rocks and small rapids, but warlike stores have been 

 floated downwards on rafts. The subsequent course of the river as 

 far as the mouth of the Saklawiyah Canal (about 33" 26' N. Int., 



ooo. DIV. VOL. rv. 



40 50' E. long.), where it may be considered as having entered the 

 central plain, is through an upland country, furrowed by alternate 

 ridges and depressions, with a general declivity to the south-east. 

 From Sumeisat (the ancient Saruosata), 45 miles below Gergen-Kaleshi, 

 the Euphrates is navigable without serious interruption to the sea. 

 From Sumeisat to Rum-Kaleh, a distance of 51 miles, following the 

 windings of the stream, the river flows W.S.W. Its course thenco 

 to Balis (36 1' N. lat, 38 7' E. long.), a distance of 114 miles, 

 winds along a line running north and south. Fourteen miles below 

 Rum-Kaleh, at Graun, the channel of the Euphrates is only 804 miles 

 distant in a direct line from the Mediterranean at Bayas. The Tigris 

 steamer ascended the river as high as Bir in Colonel Chesney's expe- 

 dition to the Euphrates. At this point the river is 628 $ feet above 

 the level of the Mediterranean at the mouth of the Orontes, from 

 which it is distant 133 miles in a direct line, which gives only a fall of 

 little more than 6 inches per mile to the Persian Gulf (distant 1117 

 miles), assuming the level of that sea to be the same as the level of 

 the Mediterranean. Twenty-fivo miles below Bir the Euphrates 

 receives from the west one arm of tho Sajur, and 5 miles lower down 

 another ; this is a considerable affluent, the lowest of any importance 

 that falls into it on that side. At Balis, 83 miles below Bir, the river 

 turns to the south-east, a general direction which, making allowance 

 for its windings, it may be said to retain till it reaches the Persian 

 Gulf. Near Rakkah it receives on the east bank the Belik, which rises 

 near Uarran, to the north. After a tortuous course of 80 miles the 

 Euphrates breaks through a chain of hills which comes on the west 

 from Palmyra, and on the opposite side of the river, from the direction 

 of Sinjar. In this pass the river flows in a small channel 250 yards 

 wide and 7 fathoms deep, between precipices which rise abruptly 200 

 or 500 feet from the water's edge. Fifty miles from this pass, by the 

 windings of the river, but little more than half that distance in a 

 straight line, the Khabur (the ancient Chaboras) falls into the 

 Euphrates from the north, bringing down the drainage of Mount 

 Masius and the eastern part of the Taurus. [BAGHDAD, Pashalic of.] 

 The Khabur enters the Euphrates in 35 6' N. lat, 40 27' E. long. 

 From the Khabur to the Werdi, 754 miles by tho river, 454 in a 

 straight line S.E. by S., tho Euphrates has an average width of 

 400 yards, with an ordinary depth of 18 feet, and a current of four 

 miles an hour during the floods: it forms many islands. Between 

 Werdi and Anah (the ancient Anatho), 92 miles, 50| miles east in a 

 straight line, the river has at the same season a breadth of 350 yards, 

 a depth of 18 feet, and a current of 4 miles an hour. About 100 

 miles below Anah the Euphrates passes Hit, well known for its bitu- 

 minous fountains, which are mentioned by Herodotus (L 178) under 

 the name of Is. Seventy miles below Hit, at the mouth of tliu 

 Saklawiyah Canal, it has entered the great central plain. From 

 Werdi to near the mouth of this canal a range of hills extends at a 

 distance of some miles along the north-eastern bank of the Euphrates, 

 the opposite declivity of which sinks to the bed of the Tiirthar. 

 [BAGHDAD, Pashalic of.] The high ground oh the south-west side of 

 the Euphrates extends a few miles farther to the south than that on 

 the opposite bank ; and at its termination, curving round to tho 

 north-east, approaches nearer the river, and terminates in an abrupt 

 cape, surrounded on all sides by the level plains of Babylon. 



The Tiffrii. The principal source of this river is on the southern 

 declivity of the mountain range which forms the southern wall of the 

 valley of the Murad-Chai, near Alishan, and not much more than 

 10 miles distant from the most easterly point of the bend of the 

 Euphrates, between Malatiyah and Someisat. The Tigris runs from 

 its source 25 miles to the north-east, and about 4568 feet above tho 

 sea. It then flows southward for nearly the same distance, and, 

 receiving near the mines of Arghaua-Maden a small stream from the 

 west, adopts the course of this tributary, and then flows again towards 

 Diar-Bekr (about 37 55' N. lat, 39 55' E. long.), distant 40 miles in 

 a straight line. Opposite Diar-Bekr the Tigris is about 250 yards 

 wide in the season of floods, but it is only used to float timber-rafts 

 from the mountains. At Diar-Bekr the Tigria turns suddenly round 

 to the east, and continues to flow in that direction for 105 miles, till 

 it receives the Bitlis River on its left bank. In this part of its 

 course the Tigris flows parallel to the high mountains which separate 

 its valley from that of the Murad-Chai, an extensive plain intervening 

 between its banks and their bases. On the south the river has tho 

 bill range, on the opposite side of which are the sources of the 

 Khabur. This upper plain of the Tigris is described in the article 

 ARMENIA (vol. L cols. 514-516). 



From its junction with the Bitlis River, tho Tigris bends round to 

 the south, and it continues nearly in the direction of south-east to 

 the mouth of the Great /Cab (36 N. lat., 43" 20' E. long.). For the 

 greater part of this distance the range of bills which separates tho 

 valley of Diar-Bekr from the basin of the upper Khabur accompanies 

 the Tigris on the south-east ; they terminate on its banks a little to 

 the north of Mosul (36 20' N. lat, 43 15' E. long.). In this interval 

 the Tigris receives a number of affluents on both banks, the most 

 important of which is the Eastern Khabur. The Khabur, at its 

 junction with the Tigris, comes from the north of east, but 30 miles 

 farther up it comes from the north. It rises high up among tho 

 Arjerosh-Dngh, which bound the southern shores of Lake Van. 



The main branch of the Zab Ala, Upper or Great Zab, has its 



3 I 



