Note 85 — Chapter V · KERBELÂ TO BAGHDÂD March 30—April 12

The history of Mesopotamian rivers is exceedingly complicated owing to the frequency with which they change their beds. Mr. Le Strange (Lands of the Eastern Caliphate, p. 70 et seq.) believes that the Nahr Hindîyeh, which is probably identical with the ’Alḳâmî of Ḳudâmah and Mas’ûdî, was considered in the tenth century to be the main stream of the Euphrates, though even at that time it was not so broad as the Ḥilleh branch. Writing in 1905 Mr. Le Strange speaks of the Ḥilleh branch as being undoubtedly the main stream in modern times, but in 1909 nearly all the water, as I shall describe, flowed down the Kûfah branch (the Hindîyeh canal) and the Ḥilleh branch lay dry all the winter. This, however, will, it is to be hoped, be rectified by the new irrigation schemes on which Sir William Willcocks is at present engaged.