'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎268] (277/568)

268 COMMUNICATIONS AND TEANSPORT
from Mohammareh to Dizful should be continued to Khurramabad,
there to connect with a Russian line from Julfa. The object of the
proposal was to obtain an entry for British trade from the Shatt el-
'Arab into western Persia alternative to the Baghdad—Kirmanshah
route, which, it was then expected, would be captured by the branch
of the Baghdad Railway to Khanikin. The construction of the line
across the hills from Dizful to Khurramabad would be difficult and
expensive.
Roads and Road Transport
In the absence of good made roads land traffic in Mesopotamia
has been accustomed to pass from point to point by the line which
circumstances might make the easiest at the time, and a caravan-
route may have many possible variations great and small. It is
therefore of importance for travellers to have good guides or
trustworthy local information, not only in the trackless steppe or
desert, but also where a number of possible tracks exist, in order
that the easiest line may be followed. Reliable native information
is very difficult to obtain; the native often thinks that he has an
interest in misinforming the traveller, and even if he is willing to
tell the truth his computations of times and distances are generally
very inaccurate.
Road Conim unica t ions Irak
In Irak the waterways have been much more important than the
roads. In general it may be said there is either too much or too
little water for movement by land, which is restricted by great areas
of swamp, temporary or permanent, or may be stopped after rain by
morasses of mud, or is impeded by the frequent canals intersecting
the country near the rivers, or, on the other hand, is hampered by
lack of drinking-water in the dry steppes. The principal road com
munications in the country before the war were in northern Irak,
where well-used routes radiate from Baghdad. In central and
southern Irak there was some local caravan traffic across the open
steppes or along the paths by rivers or canals, but communications
were maintained chiefly by water. Since 1914 communication for
wheeled transport (at least in the dry season) has been opened up on
the line of the Tigris.
Along the Tigris the immediate neighbourhood of the banks is
generally the driest part of the country, as, owing to the transverse
slope of the ground away from the river, most of the water escaping
from the Tigris bed, or spilt towards the Tigris from the Euphrates,