DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15174#0188
172
THE RIVER OXUS.
HOOK I.
or bridge it. I believe that 150 men might be em-
barked on a boat of the size which I have described.
The river could only be bridged by boats, for the
wood is too small for an application of it in any
other way, and the furze and tamarisk which grow
in its banks would supply the place of planks, and
make a bridge at once complete and practicable.
A bridge of boats was thrown across the Oxus by
both Timour and Nadir, and the remains of some
temporary buildings erected by the latter conqueror
are still shown at the ferry at Kilef, north of Balkh.
The river there presents facilities for such an oper-
ation, since it has hillocks on both sides, is narrow,
and not always rapid. Passengers frequently swim
across the river at this ferry. Below the moutains
the Oxus has a firm and sandy bed, and boats may
be anchored by branches of trees in all parts of its
stream.
The advantages of the Oxus, both in a political
and commercial point of view, must, then, be re-
garded as very great: the many facilities which have
been enumerated, point it out either as a channel
of merchandize, or the route of a military expedi-
tion ; nor is it from the features of the river itself that
we form such a conclusion. It is to be remembered
that its banks are peopled and cultivated. It must,
therefore, be viewed as a river which is navigable,
and possessing great facilities for improving the
extent of that navigation. This is a fact of great
political and commercial importance, whether a hos-
tile nation may turn it to the gratification of ambi-
tion, or a friendhy power here seek for the extension
THE RIVER OXUS.
HOOK I.
or bridge it. I believe that 150 men might be em-
barked on a boat of the size which I have described.
The river could only be bridged by boats, for the
wood is too small for an application of it in any
other way, and the furze and tamarisk which grow
in its banks would supply the place of planks, and
make a bridge at once complete and practicable.
A bridge of boats was thrown across the Oxus by
both Timour and Nadir, and the remains of some
temporary buildings erected by the latter conqueror
are still shown at the ferry at Kilef, north of Balkh.
The river there presents facilities for such an oper-
ation, since it has hillocks on both sides, is narrow,
and not always rapid. Passengers frequently swim
across the river at this ferry. Below the moutains
the Oxus has a firm and sandy bed, and boats may
be anchored by branches of trees in all parts of its
stream.
The advantages of the Oxus, both in a political
and commercial point of view, must, then, be re-
garded as very great: the many facilities which have
been enumerated, point it out either as a channel
of merchandize, or the route of a military expedi-
tion ; nor is it from the features of the river itself that
we form such a conclusion. It is to be remembered
that its banks are peopled and cultivated. It must,
therefore, be viewed as a river which is navigable,
and possessing great facilities for improving the
extent of that navigation. This is a fact of great
political and commercial importance, whether a hos-
tile nation may turn it to the gratification of ambi-
tion, or a friendhy power here seek for the extension