'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III.' [‎9v] (23/982)

10
ABI—ABI
8 miles of the bank of the river Karun below Wais ; but the course of this
section is extraordinarily serpentine and at Um Kathir or Khaneh-i-Farhan,
about 2 miles by land above the important point known as Kut Bandar,
it is only about 16 miles from Shushtar. It is said to be so excessively
tortuous that frequently in its windings it recoils upon itself within a few
yards, and then suddenly diverges for some miles. In one instance a bank,
*■ little more than 9 feet in breadth, separates the two reaches of the river,
which, after a circuitous course of about 10 miles, returns to the same spot.
This fact makes its length difficult to determine even approximately : the
distance from Dizful to Band-i-Qir is only about 60 miles in a direct line,
but on the basis of a rough survey of the portion between Band-i-Qir and
Kut Bandar, we may estimate that the distance by river is between twice
and three times as great. The Ab-i-Diz, then leaving Kut ’Abd-ush-Shah,
is joined from the north at some 246 miles by the ’Aurub stream. This
latter is a permanent stream which has its sources in a spring near Kaleh
Qazh and joins the Diz river some miles below Kut ’Abd-ush-Shah. At
about 260 miles the Kahunak or Shureh river also flows into the Ab-i-Diz
from the left; at 269 miles, where Ilm Kathir is passed, the Sabz Ab adds
its quota to the river ; and at Kut Bandar, which is reached after a course
of some 275 miles, the Mukhaibat also pours its water-into that of the
Ab-i-Diz. At this point a rocky ridge, not more than 100 feet high, is
pierced by the river in its course : this ridge is named Umm-ul-’Ayai. As
the river approaches the Karun, its banks contain some forest, and 13 miles
from Band-i-Qir the Shavur river [vide this Gazetteer) joins it from the
north-west. Finally, the Ab-i-Diz empties itself into the river Karun at
Band-i-Qir, and loses its identity as a separate river after a total course
of some 360 miles.
The fall of the river appears to the eye to be more rapid than that of
the Shatait or the Gargar. It cuts its way through the alluvial plain bet
ween steep banks, rising 10 to 20 feet above flood-level, outside of which
there is no marked valley or basin. The true banks are frequently several
hundred yards apart at bends, and their re-entrant angles are occupied by
low mud deposits covered with scrub jungle. From about 18 miles south
of Dizful to within about the same distance of its junction with the Karun,
the course of the Diz lies through a belt of brushwood, not usually more than
2 or 3 miles wide and in places less, with frequent breaks through which
glimpses are caught of limitless plains. Trees from 30 to 40 feet in height
are scattered through this jungle, yet there is no wood fit for anything but
fuel; the principal trees and shrubs are the Gharab or Euphrates poplar, the
Sarlm, the tamarisk, the blackberry, and the liquorice-bush or Sus.
Fuel for the steamers on the Karun, for the towns of Shushtar and Nasiri
and to a certain extent for Dizful town, is obtained from this tract.
The climate of the Diz country is undoubtedly much more humid than
that of ’Arabistan generally, and in spring there is abundant pasturage upon
both sides of the river. Fuel and fodder are obtainable, and the Arabs in the
neighbourhood own numbers of buffaloes, cattle and sheep. On the left bank
above Kut Bandar there is much irrigated cultivation of wheat and barley.
The settled villages of the upper Diz will be found in the article on
Dizffll district; the last is Khaneh-i-Farhan, already mentioned, below