'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎44] (63/622)

44
HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
He sa3 T s, # " In travelling, during the autumn of 1837. along
the whole course of the Tigris from its sources in the moun
tainous regions of Armenia to the city of Bagdad, I have
bestowed much attention on the examination of the river, fixing
its chief points by astronomical observations, and laying down
others by a prismatic compass A compass fitted with a sighting vane and magnifier to achieve additional accuracy. , checked, whenever it was pos
sible, by cross-bearings. Throughout a great part of my
journey, the track led me over ruins, at one time amidst the
remains of ancient palaces, at another over the ruins of modern
huts; yet the river is ever a fine stream, and flows through a
beautiful, fertile, and populous country. More pressing duty
at the present moment does not admit of computing the greater
part of my observations ; but the tract between Bagdad and
Samraarrah, comprising Opis, the Median Wall, and Siparah on
the Euphrates, as having reference to many interesting topics
I have taken pains to examine with accuracy." On the 25th
of July, 1839, Lieutenant Lynch transmitted from Bagdad
to Sir John Cam Hobhouse, President of the Board of Control Formally known as the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, it was established by an Act of Parliament in 1784 to supervise the activities of the East India Company. ,
under whose immediate orders he was serving, a map of the
whole source of the Tigris, between Ctesiphon and Mosul, which
was on the scale of twelve inches to a degree. He writes
u Chains of triangles connect Nineveh to Bagdad, Bagdad to
Babylon, Babylon to Ctesiphon, Ctesiphon to Bagdad, and the
mountains of Hamreed in two points, namely, where the Tigris
bursts through them to the north and Diyalah to the north
eastward. Most of the principal points within the range of
these are fixed either by an extension of the trigonometric
chains or by latitudes and true bearings checked by longitudes:
the great canals also have been touched by our work sufficiently
to show us their direction and position. As we work, the field
instead of being diminished appears to extend ; and I have
been obliged to leave with regret the tracing of the splendid
canals and rivers and the filling-in of the villages and ruins for
more favourable times. This, however, will be my first object
with the extension of our triangles along this river towards
Bussorah, and a careful survey of that part of the Euphrates
between the Satlawiyah Canal and the lower part of what was
Babylonia, to show the heads of the canals that ran from it
towards the Tigris, and once rendered it, what its ruins attest,
a splendid garden." Lieutenant H. W. Grounds, who, with
Lieutenant M. W. Lynch, assisted Lieutenant L3 7 nch in his
researches, also wrote an interesting paper on his exploration
of the country between Bagdad and the Hamreed Hills.f
* " Note on a part of the River Tigris, between Bagdad and Saramarrah."
By Lieutenant H. Blosse Lynch, I.N. (Vol. IX. of the " Journal of the Royal
Geoerraphical Society. ) Accompanying the Memoir is an admirable map of the
Tigris between Bagdad and Mosul, reduced from his map submitted to the Board
of Control.
f " Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society," vol. vi., p. 407.