'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎105] (154/905)

CHAP. VI.]
SOIL AND CLIMATE.
105
offset of Dara. Seventy miles southward are the Sinjar hills,
which have a width of from seven to nine miles, and extend
for about fifty miles towards the Tigris. 1 The isolated hill
of Kaka seems to unite this range geologically with that of
Abd-el-Aziz; a low chalk formation in the district of the
Millis Kurds, towards the north-west, 2 which is the last to
be noticed.
The rest of Mesopotamia is a plain country, abounding it s southern
with wormwood; but, between Baghdad and the Euphrates, part8 leve1,
a part of the surface is occupied by salt lakes and marshes;
and near the two rivers there are several khors, or fresh
lakes, the most remarkable being those which inundate the
neighbourhood of Akar Kuf, of the Birs Nimrud, (the Hin-
deah,) and Lamlum. Some extensive sheets of water are
also met with, at the season of floods, both above and below
Kurnah.
The soil of Mesopotamia is generally a sandy clay, the
surface of which, in the absence of water, is a positive desert;
but wherever it is watered by the numerous inlets and irri
gating canals branching from the different rivers already
described, it is rich and productive in the extreme.
The change from a level to a mountainous country in a Temperature of
higher latitude causes a marked difference in the temperatures parte? uthem
at the opposite extremities of the province; whilst the central
portion enjoys a climate which may be considered as a medium
between the others. The southern or warmest region is
Babylonia, which, under the Persians, was separated from
the rest of Mesopotamia, and extended northward of the
Median Wall, as far as the latitude of Sammara and A'nah.
But even here the cold winds of the desert are felt during
the winter, and especially in the beginning of the year, at
which time rain is frequent, and even snow falls occasionally.
This, however, is the season in which the operations of hus
bandry and commerce are performed; for in summer an
average of 104° (in the house) drives the inhabitants into
1 Mr. Forbes, Vol. IX. Part III., p. 422, of the Royal Geographical Journal.
8 Ainsworth's Assyria and Babylonia, p. 268.
VOL. I. P