'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from September 1850 to June 1852. Edited by the Secretary. Volume X.' [‎107] (240/458)

[fc appears tkjt
sts belonging toi
1 beyond tlie i
immenced wlir
sed some disspfi
eed, as we Up-
received in tk
|y as an ami
, the extent il'
n hut little fl*
he former hrf
romthe*H
carcely he sn^
rast » ti“ M
ebsequion®' 3 ’,;
MEMOIR ON THE u TIGRIS.”
^ho, confid^ 11 ^ of his power and proud of the lineage from whence he
is sprang, cares not for privations or poverty as long as he is personally
free, though he is cunning enough in his attempts at softening these
hardships of his life, by every means that avarice can adopt. Where
there is a prospect of advantage, by the exercise of the latter part of
his character he will fawn and flatter at a rate sufficient to disgust
before he has been five minutes in company, while, on the other hand,
he displays his power, when thinking necessary to resort to it, in all
manner of cruelties and oppressions. Yet he is, or was, not without
his code of honor, in which the rights of hospitality and the sanctity of
plighted word were esteemed, at one time, as sacred and inviolable.
Now they are but as bye words in many tribes owing in most instances^
to deceptions that have been practised on the Bedoins by the Turks
whose great aim has been and is still—on account of their own weak
ness—to sow dissensions among them and to reduce the strength“of the
larger tribes by pitting family against family. The Dellim however are
but a hybrid race and not strictly Bedoins, though a portion of them
follow the Bedoin’s usages and manners. They are reputed rich and pos
sess both banks of the Euphrates from Hit to Felujeh, opposite Bagh
dad. In our conversation with these people the true extent of the Chali
Batikh was explained as we found it; it would have been otherwise,
there is but little doubt, had they not known we had traced it in the
morning. We glean from them that there is a similar embankment and
dyke further to the north, named Chali-Jalilad-Darb—somewhere op
posite to Samara; but they all agree upon its limited extent, and we
infer the excavation and embankment were executed for a like purpose.
I have little doubt but the embankment and dyke of the Chali-Jelil-
ad-Darb when visited will be found to correspond with the position
in which, it may be presumed, the great dam for the northern arm of the
Katul-al-Kesrawi was constructed across the Tigris, and in like manner
as the embankment and dyke of the Chali Batikh relieved the pres
sure on the dams probably crossing the Tigris between it and Jilbareh,
so also the Chali-Jelilad-Darb and its trench acted as a safety valve for
the northern “ bund ” when extraordinary freshes threatened its
stability. They remained as our guests during the night, and had every
reason to be pleased with their entertainment for we were enabled to
procure a sheep from the cultivators with which they were regaled and
/