A Diverred River.

Thames Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 10286, 6 January 1917, Page 3

A Diverred River.

Ar&bistan lies at the head of tht; Persian Gu!f, its western boundary being the Shatel-Arab, the great river formed by the combined waters of the Tigris and Euphrates, the ri^ht bank of which is in Persian territory, while the left is in Turkish Arabia. Forty miles above where it flows into the Persian Gulf the ( Shatel-Arab is joined by the Karuh, and the town of Mohammenih, stands at the .junction of the two rivers, the former a clear green stream, the latter thick and red.

In ancient times the K:vnin flowed into the Gulf, and part of the river still runs along, the old channel; but the main stream has b-en diverted, three miles above Mohanvmerah, into, an artificial channel known geographically as the Haffar Canal. It is impossible even to make a guess at the

date of this wonderful \vor!c, not even a tradition remaining of the ruler whose farsightedness realised the

enormous advantage, of joining up the two waterways. Alexander the Great has been suggested, * but. apparently for no other reason than that he is a convenient and likely person to credit wilh any ambitious enterprise^ and that one of his many Alexandras was built on tlie site ox the present Mu'hami.ieiaii...