Manuscript of Persia and the Persian Question (Continued) [‎25r] (49/690)

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There is much in the country, in the river scenery^ and in the_
character of the p^mlufcion- upon its banks that distinguishes this
from other parts of Persia. Few Englishmen have visited, and
fewer still have described, this interesting corner of the Shah’s
dominions ; and whilst those who have done so have recorded their
experiences in compilations not devoid of romance and familiar to
the student, though not perhaps to the public at largdpthe local con
ditions have very greatly changed since the majority of their narra
tives were written, and the drama of life is fast nearing the close of
a chapter whose leaves will presently be turned back and sealed for
ever. A riparian population of Arab tribes under native sheikhs,
who sustain a fitful and expiring independence against the ever
advancing encroachments of Persian governors and tax-collectors;
an inland population of nomad tribes, of mixed origin and reluctant
loyalty, who in their native hills still retain their old clan organiza
tion and a vagrant liberty of life ; townspeople, half Arab and half
Persian, whose character is as composite as their origin: these in
gredients alone suggest a tableau of dramatic outline and vivid con
trast. How much more complex and absorbing is it bound to*
become when an outside competitor, in the person of Great Britain,
steps upon the scene!
The Karun river is described in text-books of geography
as the only navigable river in Persia^J/KismgnfrAthe knotted mountain
range to the west of Ispahany^t pursues a westerly c&Rrs^through wild
gorges and upland plains, until, emerging from the hills ir
the north of Shushter, it turns sharply to the south, and aftePadorning
that town with the waterworks that have rendered it famous in history
and still leave it respectable in decay, pursues a sinuous course over the
wide alluvial plain that stretches to the Shat-el-Arab and the Persian
Gulf. On the way it receives, at Bund-i-kir, its main affluent, the Ab-i-diz
or river of Dizful; whilst lower down its channel is interrupted, and
navigation is impeded, by the renowned rapids of Ahwaz. At the river-
port of Mohammerah it flows into the estuary, by which, 40 miles lower
down, at Fao, the combined waters of the Tigris and Euphrates enter
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
The Swgtosfc •writers who have dealt with the Karun river, Shushter, and the
surrounding districts, are as follows:—
Dean Vincent, ‘ The Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients in the India n
O^^n n.’ 2 vols., 1807. a ■ w Lu $ txz li. G-f m 'i&kllL
J. M. Kinneir, ( 4 Geographical Memoir uf tha PguhiH Eiiniheii 1 "Iigadmi. 1813.
Captain It. Mignan, ‘ Travels in Chalda;a . , i+mltm, 1829. ^Cc\
J. H. Stocqueler, ‘ Fifteen Months’ Pilgrimage lilnuu^fi Hnlimlileii Timka of
Kh wnintiwn anil mwau ,* 2 vols, Ijwwdnn, 1832.
Major Estcourt (who in 183G ascended the Karun as far as Ahwaz in the s.s.
Euphrates), * A Memoir wwmwwsy pmowiLi liu him foynt ^ Directors of the East
India Company.’ [This cannot now be traced.] '
Sir H. ft, Rawlinson, ^lotca uu"« M.uctr fti'iill '^nlulj lu I'lhuuiutuit in l.'llfl,**
• Journal of the It.G.S ..* vol. ix., 1839.
Lieut. W. B. Selby, i.n., ‘ Report of an Ascent of the
In the s.s. Nitocris in May-June, 1841, presented to the
India Company.’ [This cannot now be traced.] ; pAoounwt
01111 <
^ Journal of the R.G.S. ,’ vol
Karun
Directors of the East
tiic Asm iiruf him ititwm
■ |rt | *'■ o-
xiv., 1844.
jtuiiij i fu, ill MlllTll-
Sir A. II. Layard, ‘»*AnfiipTrt Krtoo amon^ tbo Rnlihtiwi'i M^»^n^^nill.■l T, (allll M'lll.ul'.H
f\n ftm Uiv.ra .o' Ky Pr^fnnnnr t ‘ Journal of the R.G.S .,* vol. xii., 1842;
“ AiDcowiptiiun vol. xvi., 184G;
‘Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylonia,^owhwlHig^nwBidoHec'Mneng the
Bnhhtinin and ntlierwild t>ibo8f 2 vols.,
1887.
Jurmiwr IhUHigli llil'i Mw
ttI, Khugilu,
Baron C.TA. De Bode,.
iwwl BaWTttvmt^wnw^w«^> * Journal of the R.G.S ., vol. xiii., 1843; ‘ Tr avels in Lurista n
and Arabistan,’ 2 vols., 1845.
Colonel F. R. Chesney, ‘ Expedition s for the Survey of the Rivers Euphrates and
Tig ns in 183 5-37,’ 2 vols., hmmdmm, 1850. " - '
WTFT'Alnsworth (N 11 rgiiinitotaAi^a 1 m^iut tw Lht Eii|ihiutn EA{wjlitiuu^, ‘ Resear ches
in Assyri a , Babylonia, and Chaldaea. ’ 1838; 4 A Personal Narrative of~thc
Euphrates Expedition,’ 2 vols.,i**w*i»», 1888; 4 The River Kanin,’ Li'nidim, 1SJ)0. _
wAv Toftns, 4 Travels and Resear ches in Chakhea and Susiana,’ Lewdjw(T857, , _J^>^
Captain G. H. Hunt, 4 Outram and Hav elock’s Persi an Campmgn>(1857), ■Luuikm,
‘ Proceedings of the R.G.S.,’ M arch 1883, containing:—Pappr^y Colonel J. Bateman-
Champain 44 On the various means of Communication bet>x?en Central Persia and tho
Sea; ” Speech by Mr. G. S. Mackenzie; 44 Surveying Tours in South Persia,” by Major
H. 1, Wells. /\ —^
Colonel M. S. Bell, v.c., “A Visit to the Karun River and Kum,” 4 Blackwood’s
Magazine,’ A pril 1889.
Gen. Sir R. Murdoch Smith, •‘■Addi'ooo to tho Lmidnu Clllllliber orCondHUl'llJ upon
thf‘Kinmn PiTttrrnil "i"— 1 - 3 :.^^ Chamber of Comme rce Journal. March
5th, 1889. —Addum) on 1 tho Kaitm Rivo» as a Trade Routed 4 Journal of the Society o f
. X ¥ 4 J
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