"الطرق في بلاد فارس" [‎٧‎٧‎٩] (٨٥٢/٨١٠)

779
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9
Koute No. 202— contd.
A khan called Kharnunab, [on tjie Baghdad-Musal road, is
said to lie inland from the right bank hereabonts perhaps tvo
miles off.
All this morning we have been passing islands between us and
the right bank. They are grown over with tamarisk and harbour
francolin.
At 3 hours 25 minutes a conspicuous object known as Qal 'ah
Raiyash is seen on the right bank. It consists, according to
our informant?, of masonry remains ; and it is situated on the
top of rocky cliffs which, having began 2 or 3 miles further back
hp, re approach the right bank. On the left bank, nearly opposite
are encampments of the Al Bu 'Ali tribe.
At 4 hours 40 minutes there are camps of the Jibur Arabs on
the right bank abreast of us and also downstream.
At 5 hours 30 minutes steep conglomerate cliffs called Jabal
'Ajzau, rising to as much as 80 feet, adjoin the right bank;
they have already accompanied it for some distance, say 2 miles.
Five minutes further on a low strip of land known as Hftwi
Mataridah begins on the right bank between the cliffs and the
river, Avhile the left bank opposite is cultivated and goes by the
name of Moh-al-Hisan. (M5h is said to bo another name for the
vegetable also called Lubiyah.)
At 5 hours 5H minutes wo reach a locality ou the left bank
styled Tall-as-Suq where there are ruins on land, and in the water
rocks said to be uncovered in the low season. A little further
on there is an island in the river. On the right bank the hilla
continue : they are said to be all one range from Kharininah to
Tikrit and beyond, but opposite Hawi Mataridah their name
changes from Jabal 'Ajzau to Jabal Sa'luah.
At 6 hours 10 minutes we reach the end of Hawi Mataridah,
and conglomerate cliffs on the right bank come down to the
water's edge.
At 6 hours 35 minutes the right bank is called Qaim, and its
high cliffs are of mud and conglomerate. On the left bank the
date palm, long unfamiliar, reappears.
At 6 hours 45 minutes we arrive at Tikrit, the reputed birth
place of the great Saladin, whose tomb is at "Damascus. Here
we again see in the river the quffah, a round basket-work coracle
smeared with bitumen, which is one of the most characteristio
objects of tho Baghdad country.