atitude 33deg 20' N., longitude 44deg 24' E. At this
point the Tigris and the Euphrates approach each other most nearly, the
distance between them being little more than 25 m. At this point also the
two rivers are connected by a canal, the northernmost of a series of canals
which formerly united the two great waterways, and at the same time
irrigated the intervening plain. This canal, the Sakhlawieh (formerly Isa),
leaves the Euphrates a few miles above Feluja and the bridge of boats, near
the ruins of the ancient Anbar. As it approaches Bagdad it spreads out in a
great marsh, and finally, through the Masudi canal, which encircles western
Bagdad, enters the Tigris below the town. At the time of Chesney's survey
of the Euphrates in 1838 this canal was still navigable for craft of some
size. At present it serves no other purpose than to increase the floods
which periodically turn Bagdad into an island city, and sometimes threaten
to overwhelm the dikes which protect it and to submerge it entirely.

The original city of Bagdad was built on the western bank of the Tigris,
but this is now, and has been for centuries, little more than a suburb of
the larger and more important city on the eastern shore, the former
containing an area of only 146 acres within the walls, while the latter
extends over 591 acres. Both the eastern and the western part of the city
were formerly enclosed by brick walls, with large round towers at the
principal angles and smaller towers intervening at shorter distances, the
whole surrounded by a deep fosse. There were three gates in the [v.03
p.0195] western city and four in the eastern; one of the latter, however,
on the north side, called "Gate of the Talisman" from an Arabic inscription
bearing the date A.D. 1220, has remained closed since the capture of the
city by Murad IV. in 1638. These walls all fell into decay long since; at
places they were used as brick quarries, and finally the great reforming
governor, (1868-1872), Midhat Pasha, following the example set by many
European cities, undertook to destroy them altogether and utilize the free
space thus obtained as a public park and esplanade. His plans were only
partially carried out. At present fragments of the walls exist here and
there, with the great ditch about them, while elsewhere a line of mounds
marks their course. A great portion of the ground within the wall lines is
not occupied by buildings, especially in the north-western quarter; and