Norwich bulletin., 1916-04-03
Stories of the War
On the Tiuris.

The TigTis River serves as the line of communications for both Turk and British alike m Mesopotamis- The British have a certain advantage in the sea, can increase and replenish their river transport facilities in- definitely. wheras the Turks must be satisfied with their present fleet.
 The carrying capacity of the Tigris v.'h it's present British Gieet is nos equal to that of a single line of rail- way with an average suply of rolling srock, but 1t Is increasing in prOpOr- uor to tie development of the cam DI gn. The British line of communi- cIIion Is about 400 miles long.
 v he fleet of transports. mostly pad Gle steamers drawing about four feet Of water, each with a lighter attached s'a- board and port, keep pace with the iI' my on the bank; and each brigade has its parent ship, from which it draws sur plies. The parent ship is, in turn supplied by "mahailas." These local rive craft make a picturesque feet with their high fOrward-sloping masts, huge rudder, llteen sail, and Cuiaway prov, pointed and barbed- They are painted like the Chinese 'unks, but with Arab designs and char Gt ters. the star and crescent and fig ures like the signs of the zodice, gen. | cri'lly white on q back ground of green TT red or yellow.
 ne <AESb la4e lOhEs canoe shaped boats of the country. the l gondCla D: RasTa, is the bellum- It is ] poied or padded. The official dis i patches have occasionally referred to war bells!ns'', which are ordinary bel | luTns arm. red with iron plates and used for conveying infantry to the as- eault of the eaemy's position
 To supplement the self-rcspecting s paddle st sCmers of the Tigris there has LSen Eathered the most heterogeneous | collection Of scrap-iron and remnants | .s: rlver traffic, taxing the resources | of India's in and navigation from | B1smo to Sind. How these craft ever l fund the.r way over the ocean only | rCvidenrC knows.
 Tue most remarkable boat on the | .iver is on. known as the "AeTial'', half | hcuse-boat and half aerOplane. The ' h-ll is from Brahmaputra and 1t is -it- | ted with an air propeller and a 50 | horse power engine. It makes more noise thar a modern battle. It once | lied in Assam, but it's owner and nav l .sstOr had happy inspiration and this | miracle Improvisation is now the Ocff- | ally recognized hospital ferry. ply | ing between the field hospital stations | and the main hospital camp.
 A boat indigenous to the Tigris is | the CauldrCn-like "gusar' of Bagdad probably the oldest vessel in the world | A gufar moored alongside the modern | freak "Acrial' offers a striking picture l in the evolution of ships. The gufar is Q reed basket with wooden stays Tlastered over with pitch from the
 hitumen wells of Hit. Herodotus des. l cr!bed them as sound as bucklers" spinning down stream with msrchan. disc from Ninevah to Babylon. Eacf gufar. he says, carried a donkey and vas navisated by two men. Arrived
 in Babylon and the merchandise sold
 the gufar was dismembered and the
 parts carried back overland by donkey
 Nowadays one first meets these crafi
 at Amara, while their northernmos
 limit upstream is Tckrit.
 The Turks have five large steamers
 north of Kut-el-Amara, but these car
 only go as far as the Turkish base al
 Shumran, whence supplies are convey
 ed to the troops by camels or donkeys
 As regards rations for the Turks. tho
 country is nearly self f-supporting 2
 Troops and equipment are carried
 down stream to Bagdad from Mosul or
 Eelleks, the great skin rafts of tho
 Tigris. These are broken up at Bag
 dad and the skins sold or conveyed
 back by land. To supplement th' | river the Turks have a railway run ming north of Bagdad 90 miles tC Samara-