volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

270 The Hindtyah Canal.
woven together with reeds, straw, etc., and its sides
stand up about 2 feet out of the water. Hot bitumen
is poured all over the framework, both inside and outside,
and when it is cooling a roller is passed over it to
make an absolutely smooth surface, without " bubbles"
or cracks. Hasan collected dates, bread-cakes, cheese,^
boiled eggs, a skin of water, and some heavy camel'shair
cloaks, and at sunset we got into our " kayyir "
and made ourselves as comfortable as possible. The
boat was almost rectangular, had rounded corners, and
measured about 20 feet by 4^ feet, or 5 J feet in the
widest part. Its rounded sides bent over inwards,
and afforded good shelter from some of the bitterly cold
winds which swept over the water. It was guided in
its course downstream by two men, each having a sort
of sweep, with which they most skilfully prevented it
from striking the bank. There was much water in
the river after the recent rains, and as we rode deep
in the water the fuU force of the current carried us along
quickly.
Two hours after we left Musayyib we came to the
mouth of the famous Hindiyah Canal, and branched
off on the right into it. The Hindiyah represents the
canal which was dug by Alexander the Great, apparently
with the view of getting rid of flood water from the
Euphrates, and conducting it into the Great Swamp
some distance below AI-Kufah. When the river was
not in flood the northern mouth was blocked up, and
the Euphrates flowed in its entirety through Babylon.
Little by little Alexander's canal became choked, and
early in the eighteenth century it was impossible to
pass vessels through it. About 1750 the canal was cleared
out by Nuwab Shujah ad-Dawlah, an Indian prince,
and from that time onwards it has been called the
" Nahr Hindiyah." As we floated downstream we
saw large numbers of men gathered together about
» The name of this commodity is the same now as in Babylonian
times ; the Babylonians called it gubnatu Ji| ,. ^ JiJ£ , and its name
in Arabic is gubn, or gibn ^J^.