"دليل بلاد فارس. مجلد III. جزء I: من A إلى K" [و‎‎٥‎٢‎٦] (١٢٧٨/١٠٥٦)

’'canal cut for irrigation purposes, but the river, finding this course more
appropriate, wore down the dam which regulated its out-take of water and
eventually burst through in full force, thus forming a new and more import
ant channel for its final exit into the estuary.
Navigability and character of banks .—From Band-i-Qlr to Ahwaz the
normal width of the river is about 300 yards and ordinarily offers no
obstacles to navigation, but sand banks and heaps of stones occur, and the
depth of the water is sometimes insufficient. The banks vary in height from
10 feet to 30 feet, the land above them being gravelly plains ; towards Ahwaz
they are of marl, the brushwood which once clothed them having mostly
disappeared. The rapids of Ahwaz, though passable by towing, are a serious
obstacle even to native boats, especially with a very high or very low river.
The steamers Assyria and Shushan, however, ascended the rapids by steam
successfully in 1842 and 1890 respectively. Bulk is commonly broken at
this point, goods being conveyed by a horse tramway from Nasiri to a point
a | of a mile north of Ahwaz for re-shipment. The length of the rapids is
about 2,000 yards ; they are reckoned to be 5 in number and the real obstacle
to navigation is the second one from the top. At this place a reef runs out
from the left bank, leaving between its point and the right bank a channel
only 100 yards wide, through which the water rushes with a fall of 1 in 50 ;
this channel is, moreover, broken up by rocky islets into 2 or 3 passages,
of which the one adjoining the right bank is the easiest of ascent, but has a
width of only 50 yards. Both the reef and the islets carry masonry
remains, those of a great irrigation barrage which raised the surface of the
water to the level of the surrounding country. This barrage was called
Shadurwan and existed in the 10th century A.D. Above the rapids the
river is 400 yards broad, between them in places as much as 700 and below
them only 200 to 300. Between these points the total loss of level is foot
with a high river and 7 or 8 feet with a low one. From Nasirieh to Muham-
mareh, a distance of about 120 miles by the river, the Karun has a normal
breadth of a of a mile and flows through uncultivated plains. The banks
are gt nerally low in this part of its course. In winter they are occupied by
Arab encampments around which some slight and shifting cultivation is
carried on, but in summer, with the exception of the permanent habitations
mentioned below, they are deserted. The current varies from 4 to 5
knots in the flood season to 2 knots between August and November ; and
the difference between low and high river is ordinarily only about 12 to 14
feet. The Karun, however, is liable to more violent and irregular changes
of level than the great river of Mesopotamia, and there is a difference of
24 feet between the highest recorded (February 1903) and the lowest (Octo
ber 1901). When the river is full it carries a brown silt and in its lower
course runs level with the banks. It is at its lowest from the middle of
October to the end of November, while the highest floods occur in March
and April. In most parts and at ordinary seasons there is little difficulty
for the safe navigation of a vessel of 5 or even 6 feet draught, but in the
20 miles immediately below Ahwaz, which is the worst reach for steamers,
those of only 3| feet draught sometimes have difficulty in navigating it,
when the water is low. There are ferries for crossing the river at Wais,
Kut, ’Abdullah and Ghazzavieh ; but no bridges below those at Shushtarl