Note 92 — Chapter IX
Reading edition
The length of the Euphrates, in its direct course from North to South, is about 700 miles; but with its various windings, it is nearly 1,800. The current is sluggish, not exceeding two and a-half to three miles an hour, except during the floods, when it increases to about five miles. The river navigation would extend from Ja’bar Castle to Bir, 120 miles, or to Bussorah, 70 miles from its mouth, and the vessels must not draw more than eight feet. The draught of the ocean vessels into which the mails and passengers would be transferred at Bir or Bussorah, must be limited, as there are not more than twelve feet on the bar at the mouth of the Euphrates at low water.