In the time of the ancient glory of Mesopotania when Babylon and Nineveh crowned the plains, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowed in separate channels to the Persian Gulf. Now, however, owing to the silting up of the old beds, their waters unite a few miles from the coast into one stream, the Shat-el-Arab. This shallow, muddy river is bordered for miles with groves of date palms. The plantations stretching off into the country on either side supply the greater part of the world with dates.
