CHAP. I I . ] RUINS OF CTESIPHON AND SELEUCIA. 35
ward of west; in this line it continues to Khani-kin, about
12 miles from the junction above mentioned; and at an equal
| distance from thence, in the same general direction, it falls
into the greater branch, or Abi Shirwan, at Kizil Robat;
from whence the united waters, under the well known name
I of Diyalah, pursue a southerly course, passing close to
Bakubd, and falling into the Tigris: immediately previous to
the junction it is crossed by a bridge of boats 60 yards long.
Below the confluence just mentioned, the Tigris becomes
even more tortuous than it has been in its previous course
from Baghdad; for it now makes, not merely simple bends,
but actually a succession of deep convolutions, in the level
j country which it' traverses, till its waters and its name are
I lost in those of the Euphrates at Kurnah.
The windings of the main trunk incline rather westward,
i or towards the Euphrates, till the striking Arch of Chosroes
Tak Kesia.
announces that the stream is washing the western side of the
remains of Ctesiphon, and a little lower on the right bank
those of Seleucia. Both of these ruins have been greatly
: diminished by the gradual encroachments of the river, as well
as by the effects of time itself.
Below the crumbling vestiges of these once noble cities
the convolutions incline towards the eastern side; thus gradually
increasing the width of Mesopotamia. They bear the
well known appellation of Shatt al Dijlah as far as Kut el
D 2