The only rivers of the district which deserve any attention are the Tab
(or Oroatis), whereof a description has been already given, the Kur or
Bendamir (called anciently Araxes), with its tributary, the Pulwar (or
Cyrus), and the Khoonazaberni or river of Khisht.

The Bendamir rises in the mountains of the Bakhtiyari chain, in lat.
30° 35', long. 51° 50' nearly, and runs with a course which is generally
south-east, past the ruins of Persepolis, to the salt lake of Neyriz
or Kheir, which it enters in long. 53° 30'. It receives, where it
approaches nearest to Persepolis, the Pulwar or Kur-ab, a small stream
coming from the north-east and flowing by the ruins of both Pasargadae
and Persepolis. A little below its junction with this stream the
Bendamir is crossed by a bridge of five arches, and further down, on the
route between Shiraz and Herman, by another of twelve. Here its waters
are to a great extent drawn off by means of canals, and are made to
fertilize a large tract of rich flat country on either bank, after which
the stream pursues its course with greatly diminished volume to the salt
lake in which it ends. The entire course, including only main windings,
may be estimated at 140 or 150 miles.

The Khoonazaberni or river of Khisht rises near the ruins of Shapur, at
a short distance from Kazerun, on the route between Bushire and
Shiraz, and flows in a broad valley between lofty mountains towards
the south-west, entering the Persian Gulf by three mouths, the chief of
which is at Rohilla, twenty miles north of Bushire, where the stream has
a breadth of sixty yards, and a depth of about four feet. Above Khisht
the river is already thirty yards wide. Its chief tributary is the
Dalaki stream, which enters it from the east, nearly in long. 51°. The
entire course of the Khisht river may be about 95 or 100 miles. Its
water is brackish except near the source.