"تقرير عسكري عن جنوب غرب بلاد فارس، يتضمن أقاليم خوزستان (عربستان)، لورستان، وجزءًا من فارس" [‎٤‎٢] (٤٦٦/٧١)

42
planted at considerable intervals apart; water is found 10 feet from tk snrface;
ft k of -ood quality, except for some miles to the east of the Kara
o AA\ Wells are numerous in and round about the villages not situated
It is poorly irrigated. A few trees, chiefly the date pal ra ,
grow round about the villages only; firewood is scarce. Each village com.
mTity owns from 50 to 60 donkeys, 300 to 500 sheep, and 5 or 6 cows.
The climate of this plain may be assumed not to vary to any appreciatle
extent from that of Abu-shahr {see pages .
Its summer heat is tempered by no rain, and it well deserves the name
rnrmm'r o-iven to it by the Persians. The pasturage during the hot montlis
of the year'is burnt up, scant, and of a poor quality ; the chief food of all cattle
consists of chopped straw and barley, both plentiful. ^
The only supplies procurable from the villages m limited quantities are
fowls,' sheep, milk, eggs, butter, raughan (ghi), barley, corn, and chopped straw.
The coast district extending from Hindiyan to Bandar Rig is known
as Lehruwi (see Road Report No. 4a, P
A desert stretches from Bandar Dilam westward to within five or
„ . six miles of Dorak. The river Tab runs through it; its
OCoast P am, wes al . e cultivated. The vicinity of Dorak is fertile;
dates and rice are grown there and along the banks of the Hafar and Shatt-al-
Arab. The rice crop is harvested in August and September; other grains in
April and May. The best pasturage is found inland to the nortk and
If the rains have been plentiful, tbe plains to the east-south-east of
Bandar Ma'shur are covered with grass above a horse's knees. If they have
been deficient, tlie grass will be sbort and fit for sheep, but not for cattle.
The sea .coast plain from Muhammerah to Dilam is bountituly
watered by tbe Kamn, the Tab, the Hindiyan. the Jarrahi, &c. It would
be difficult to find a territory of equal extent, where fresh water, containing
sufficient salt, is poured through the plain in channels so numerous and
so easily manageable. Its rivers are its element ot
Irrigation capabilities. greate ^ t commercial strength and military weakness, for
by damming the exits of this water towards the sea, the Persians flooded the
country and reduced the Ka'b Arabs,
The Ka'b territory is by no means an easy one to traverse, ine por
tion adjoining the coast is impassable in the wet season, and during e
subsidence of floods it would be fatal to horses and men, whether troffl
miasma or the marsh insects. ^ \ mu f r
The water from wells near the coast is brackish [Felly]^ ihe wae
supply of Ma'shur drawn from wells just outside its walls is brackish.
Its exports are wool, wheat, barley, rice, ghi, and sheep.
Its imports are piece-goods and dates.
Each petty bandar carries on a limited trade in the above. ^ ^
The low hills above referred to, originating in the Kabir-Kuh, stre c
Outer ranse of sand- ^om the Karkhah at Kal'a Bandar and the Karan >
stone and congbmer- Ahwaz in a south-east direction towards Chimin, oraiu j
known as Zeitun, to the sources of the Hindiyan or ^
river, where they amalgamate with the outer hills of the main Bakhtian a ^
Kuhgehlu ranges stretching from Kal'a Kasim, past Ab-i-Bid, Ram-Hot'®
and Pashkar, to the vicinity of Abu-shahr. Between the two ranges
plains of Ram-Hommz and Behbahan.