'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [‎41] (50/432)

THE TIGEIS—EOUTE III E 41
Native ferries (boats or IceleJcs) at Tekrit (m. 31), near Qal'ah
Sherghat (m. 113^), at m. 150, 'Uneifeh (m. 161f), and probably else
where at the larger permanent villages. The natives, when crossing
the Tigris singly, swim the river, supported on two inflated skins
tied together.
The Banks and River Valley. —The banks are formed generally of
sandstone or conglomerate, and sometimes of gypsum or (as above
Tekrit) of sandy alluvium. They are generally fairly high, occa
sionally rising to bluffs or cliffs as the river approaches the side of
the valley. From the Fet-hah gorge up to a few miles below QaFah
Sherghat the steep and broken sides of the JebelHamrln rise abruptly
from the river, first on both banks (in the gorge above mentioned)
and farther up on the r. bank only. The hill-ridges or plateau-edge
, on the W. side of the valley are usually -|-2 m. from the river. The
banks are intersected at intervals by wad is.
Strips of flat ground, covered with alluvium, occur along the
banks. A small alluvial plain of this kind is known locally as hmvi.
Patches of cultivation are found near the river : water-lifts (cherrads)
are in use between Samarra and Tekrit. Cultivation in the valley is
poor and sporadic throughout the greater part of the section, but
becomes comparatively frequent on both banks from the confluence of
the Great Zab to Mosul. Where there is no cultivation, the valley
is either bare or overgrown with tamarisk and camel-thorn. A few
miles above Tekrit, and in a good many places N. of the Jebel
Hamrln, good pasture is found in spring. There are very few trees,
and no date-palms occur between Tekrit and Mosul. Along the
E. side of the valley, S. of the Jebel Hamrln, run the large dry canal-
beds of the Nahrawan (Nahr er-Easasi) and the Nahr en-Neifeh (see
m. 17^ and m. 56).
The countryB. and W. of the —Up to the Jebel
Hamrln the country is desert on both sides of the river valley. The
Jezlreh to the W. is bare and stony, with only a little poor vegetation
in spring in its hollows and wadis. To the E. the plain is by nature
less barren, but it is inhabited now only by a few nomads. N. of
the Jebel Hamrln the Jezlreh has less of a desert character : there is
good spring-grazing in the rolling country between the river and the
Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Tartar. To the E. also cultivation gradually becomes less rare,
though it is liable to suffer from droughts and plagues of locusts.
A considerable amount of corn is produced in the plain between
Erbil and the Tigris, and the country between the Great Zab and
Mosul is fairly well cultivated.
Inhabitants. —The only place between Samarra and Mosul that can
be called a town is Tekrit (see m. 81). Up to the confluence