The Kara-Su, or Western Euphrates, rises, according to Mr. Abbott, at Douilu, 7i hours N.N.E. from Erzrum. Two hours below Domlu the stream enters the plain of Erzrnm, through which it flows from east to west for about 40 miles. It there receives a torrent flowing from Kara-Kulak to the east, and the united stream turning to the south descends through a ravine into the plain of Tergan. The south boundary of the plain of Erzrum is formed by the mountains already noticed under the names Bingol-Tag and Dujik-Tag; the northern boundary by a range of highlands, continuations of the Antitaurus, which divide the basin of the Euphrates from the rivers which flow into the Black Sea. At the point where the river quits the plain of Erzrum it is 100 yards broad in the month of October. The plain of Terjan, at the lower end of the ravine by which the Kara-Su escapes from the plain of Erzrum, lies considerably lower, and has a much milder climate than the table-land about Erzram. In the lower plain the Kara-Su receives the Mama-Khatun (a considerable stream, which rises in the Bingol-Tag near the sources of the Aras), and becomes a considerable river, fordable only in few places even in the driest mason. From the plain of Tergan the course of the Kara-Su to its junction with the Mursd-Chai, a distance of about 130 miles, is in a general south-west direction, through a succession of difficult mountain passes and narrow but fertile plains, which are described in the article ARNE-NIA (voL i. cols. 511, 512). From Erzingan (which gives name to the fine plain of Erzingan) to Kemakh, a distance of abont 26 miles, the Kara-Su flows through a mountain defile, having the Dujik range on the left, and on the right mountains all but precipitous. Imme diately above Kemakh the river forces its way through a deep narrow chasm ; and just before it precipitates its waters into this rent in the mountains it receives the KenmerSu from the west, a stream by which great quantities of wood are floated down. The Keumer-Su descends from the plain of Divrigi, about 60 miles to the west, and 3116 feet above the sea. The valley of the Keumer-Su has a considerable declivity, and the Kara-Su must therefore have sunk at the point of their junction much below its level in the plain of Erzrum.
From Kemakh to Egiu is a distance of nearly 43 miles. There is sufficient water in the Kara-Su between Kemakh and Egin to render it navigable for boats, but the frequent rapids, rocks, and shoals Impede the navigation. At Egin the mountains rise from the banks of the river by a steep slope, which is terminated by abrupt precipices; the whole height of the mountains above the stream may be about 4000 feet, and the valley is so narrow that they seem to overhang tho town. From Egin to the confluence of the Kara-Su and Ifurad Chai (about 35 miles), and thence to Kebban-Maden (about 5 miles farther), the channel of the river is obstructed by ahoals and rocks and only employed in floating timberrafts. At the ferry near Kebben-Maden the river is about 120 yards wide, deep, and rapid. The elevation of the confluence of the Kara-Su and Murad Chai has not been ascertained, but it seems to be about 2700 feet above the level of the Black Sea. Below the confluence of its two head 'dreams, near Kebban-Maden, the Euphrates follows the direction of tho Kara-Su, and flows south-west through a naked mountainous country ; and, after sweeping to the westward and half encircling the remarkable peninsula of Abdu-l'Wahab, formed by the rocky heights of Munghar, it receives the Tokhmah-Su at the pass of Iz-Oglu, the ancient Elegia, and takes an easterly bend to pass through the Taurus, between the rocky mountains of Ehagli-Khanli and the Beg-Tagh. The Tokhmah-Su rises more to the west than any other affluent of the Euphrates. The Injeh-Su and the Balikli-Su, which by their junction form this river, have their sources about 36i* E. long., and between 38,1* and 39° N. lat., about 4000 to 5000 feet above the sea. The Tokheaah-Su has a course of upwards of 100 miles, and runs a little to the northward of Malatiyah, which is about 32 miles from the right bank of the Euphrates.
Near the ferry of Fez-Oglu, a few miles below the confluence of the Tokhmah-Su, the Euphrates precipitates itself through a gap in the mountains which extend from east to west between the Murad and thesUpper Tigris, and curves through them with a general easterly direction to Cergen-Kaleshi, a distance of about 45 miles. In this
part of its course the stream Is hemmed in by lofty precipices and interrupted by rocks and small rapids, but warlike stores have been floated downwards on rafts. The subsequent course of the river as far as the mouth of the Saklawiyah Canal (about 33° 25' N. lat., 40° 50' E. long.), where it may be considered as having entered the central plain, is through an upland country, furrowed by alternate ridges and depressions, with a general declivity to the south-east.
From Sumeisat (the ancient Samosata), 45 miles below Gergen-Kaleshi, the Euphrates is navigable without serious interruption to the sea.
From Sumeisat to Rum-Kaleh, a distance of 51 miles, following the windings of the stream, the river flows W.S.W. Its course thenco to Balls (36° 1' N. lat., 38° 7' E. long.), a distance of 114 miles, winds along a line running north and south. Fourteen miles below Rum-Kaleh, at Gram], the channel of the Euphrates is only 80! miles distant in a direct line from the Mediterranean at Baps. The Tigris steamer ascended the river as high as Bir in Colonel Chesney'e expe dition to the Euphrates. At this point the river is 628i feet above the level of the Mediterranean at the mouth of the Orontes, from which it is distant 133 miles in a direct line, which gives only a fall of little more than 6 inches per mile to the Persian Gulf (distant 1117 miles), assuming the level of that sea to be the same as the level of the Mediterranean. Twenty-fivo miles below Bir the Euphrates receives from the west one arm of tho Sajur, and 5 miles lower down another; this is a considerable affluent, the lowest of any importance that falls into it on that aide. At Balls, 88 miles below Bir, the river tarns to the south-east, a general direction which, making allowance for its windings, it may be said to retain till it reaches the Persian Gulf Near Rakkah it receives on the east bank the Belik, which rises near Haman, to the north. After a tortuous course of 80 miles the Euphrates breaks through a chain of hills which comes on the west from Palmyra, and on the opposite side of the river, from the direction of Sinjar. In this pass the river flows in a small channel 250 yards wide and 7 fathoms deep, between precipices which rise abruptly 200 or 500 feet from the waters edge. Fifty miles from this pass, by the windings of the river, but little more than half that distance in a straight line, the Khabur (the ancient Chaboras) falls into the Euphrates from the north, bringing down the drainage of Mount Masius and the eastern part of the Taurus. [Mammal), Pashalic of.] The Khabur enters the Euphrates in 35° 6' N. lat., 27' E. long. From the Khabur to the Werdi, 754 miles by the river, 45i in a straight line SE. by S., the Euphrates has an average width of 400 yards, with an ordinary depth of 18 fat, and a current of four miles an hour during the floods: it forma many islands. Between Werdi and Anah (the ancient Anatho), 92 miles, 50i miles east in a straight line, the river has at the same season a breadth of 350 yards, a depth of 18 feet, and a current of 4 miles an hour. About ]00 miles below Allah the Euphrates passes Hit, well known for its bitu minous fountains, which are mentioned by Herodotus (i. 178) under the name of Is. Seventy miles below Hit, at the mouth of tho Saklawiyah Canal, it has entered the great central plain. From \Verdi to near the mouth of this canal a range of hills extends at a distance of some miles along the north-eastern bank of the Euphrates, the opposite declivity of which sinks to the bed of the Tarthar. pronDAD, Puhalie of.) The high ground oh the south-west side of the Euphrates extends a few miles farther to the south than that on the opposite bank ; and at its termination, curving round to the north-east, approaches nearer the river, and terminates in an abrupt cape, surrounded on all sides by the level plaius of Babylon.