supplied during the whole summer from its snows, and these when
collected form rivers of large size and most refreshing coolness. The
principal are, the eastern Khabour, which joins the Tigris in lat. 37
deg. 12': the Upper Zabo which falls in by the ruins of Nimrud: the
Lower Zab, which joins some way below Kileh Sherghat: the Adhem, which
unites its waters half way between Samarah and Baghdad: and the Diyaleh
(ancient Gyndes), which is received between Baghdad and the ruins of
Ctesiphon.

By the influx of these streams the Tigris continues to grow in depth and
strength as it nears the sea, and becomes at last (as we have seen) a
greater river than the Euphrates, which shrinks during the latter part
of its course, and is reduced to a volume very inferior to that which it
once boasted. The Euphrates at its junction with the Khabour, 700 miles
above Kurnah, is 400 yards wide and 18 feet deep; at Irzah or Verdi, 75
miles lower down, it is 350 yards wide and of the same depth; at
Hadiseh, 140 miles below Werdi, it is 300 yards wide, and still of the
same depth; at Hit, 50 miles below Hadiseh, its width has increased to
350 yards, but its depth has diminished to 16 feet; at Felujiah, 75
miles from Hit, the depth is 20 feet, but the width has diminished to
250 yards. From this point the contraction is very rapid and striking.
The Saklawiyeh canal is given out upon the left, and some way further
down the Hindiyeh branches off upon the right, each carrying, when the
Euphrates is full, a large body of water. The consequence is that at
Hillah, 90 miles-below Felujiah, the stream is no more than 200 yards
wide and 15 feet deep; at Diwaniyeh, 65 miles further down, it is only
160 yards wide; and at Lamlun, 20 miles below Diwaniyeh, it is reduced
to 120 yards wide, with a depth of no more than 12 feet! Soon after,
however, it begins to recover itself. The water, which left it by the
Hindiyeh, returns to it upon the one side, while the Shat-el-Hie and