At the junction of the Suchan Daria with the Panja, where the valley widens, there is no longer confusion about the name of the stream. It is now the Panja or Ab-i-Panja, and until meeting with the Bartang-Murghab-Ak-su-Ak-tash at Kala Wamar the valley preserves its open character. Beyond the Bartang its dimensions contract once more and the river tears a way for itself through mountain gorges. At Kala Khum it bends to the west and, striking a little south and then a little north-west, runs at right angles to the general trend of the mountains towards the more open valleys about Kulab. Kala Khum may be said to mark the most northerly point of the river. The district surrounding it is in distinct contrast with the desolation of the valleys along the Upper Oxus. The cliffs are no less bold and the precipices no less sheer than in Gharan and Wakhan; but owing to the mildness of the climate of Darwaz a genial warmth permeates the region, encouraging a generous growth of vegetation. The wild vine, the red pomegranate, the apple, pear and mulberry flourish and many varieties of vegetables are freely cultivated.
From the point where the Bokharan province of Kulab becomes separated by the Oxus river from the Afghan districts of Rustak and Kataghan the channel of the stream is contained no longer by the walls of the mountains. Broad streams, from the Trans-Alai range in one direction and the highlands of Karategin in another, join the Oxus, the main river at once beginning to adopt an uncertain channel. Numerous feeders appear on both banks at this part of its course. The Kulab and Surkhab-Waksh-Kizil-su join it in broad muddy streams from the Karategin uplands, until the river, changing its character altogether, divides itself into many channels where the hills fail to confine it. In addition to the two tributaries just mentioned as appearing on the right bank, there are three others, the Kafirnahan, the Surkhan, and the Darban. These are contributed from Bokhara; while, on the left bank, Badakshan dismisses the Kokcha and the Kunduz-Ghori-Khanabad-Aksarai to a meeting with the main stream. In earlier times, when there were fewer settlements and the demand for purposes of irrigation was not so great, the Amu Daria possessed, both on the north and on the south, other tributaries, the waters of which are now entirely diverted to the fields. In these middle as also in the upper reaches of the river but little of the main stream is utilised by villagers, the inhabitants of the settlements in the valleys threaded by the Oxus supplying their agricultural necessities from the smaller streams. West of Kunduz, for a distance of nearly 700 miles, the drainage of the hills to the south of the river is lost in the plains of Afghan Turkestan; but on the Bokharan side the extensive canalisation, which is such a prominent feature, causes many of the streams to be exhausted before they have had opportunity to effect a junction with the Amu Daria. It is not until near Pitniak that any important diversion of the waters of the Oxus for cultivation is made. At that point the great division of the stream for the requirements of the Khivan oasis occurs, a general discharge of 125,000 cubic feet per second being deflected in order to supply a system of canals by which over 4000 square miles of fertile alluvial land are kept in tillage.
The bed of the Oxus in its lower reaches is muddy. Taking the course of the river as a whole, measurements which have been made at a series of points demonstrate that there are no less than 16,000,000 tons of sedimentary matter constantly passing down to form the vast delta that distinguishes its mouth, as well as to fertilise its banks or any areas which, from time to time, may be submerged. It is unnecessary to mention all the various channels through which, below the fortress of Nukus, the stream flows. The principal are the Ulkan Daria, the Taldik and the Yani Su. These present the usual features of a delta; but the triangular space contained within the Yani Su and the Taldik, its extreme eastern and western channels, is not a true delta, since it consists of an original formation through which the river has cut its way to the Aral sea, and upon which other matter has been deposited. Actual deltas, however, have been developed about the mouths of the Taldik and Yani Su, their existence constituting a bar to vessels drawing over 4 feet of water.
VILLAGE ON THE LOWER OXUS
The tendency of the Oxus, like that of the great Siberian rivers, is to press continually on its right or east bank. The consequence of this deflection, which is due to the rotation of the earth round its axis from west to east, is that the stream has turned from the Kungrad channel eastwards to the Taldik channel and thence to the Yani Su which, at present, is receiving the main discharge. In former times a far greater deviation took place. No less than twice during its history has the Oxus oscillated between the Caspian and the Aral seas. In the time of Strabo it was a sort of eastern continuation of the Kura route from Georgia across the Caspian and the Kara Kum to Charjui. Its course across the desert is indicated by the Igdy and other wells dotted over the plains in a line with its former bed, which reached the Caspian in the depression between the Great and Little Balkan hills. Later on Edrisi found the Oxus flowing into the Aral. But in the fourteenth century it was flowing into the Caspian—this time along the Uzboi channel. The bed ran from near Nukus westwards to the Sara Kamish Steppe and thence southwards to the Igdy wells, along the original course between the Balkans to the Caspian, close to Mikhailovsk.
The navigation of the Oxus has been the subject of constant inquiry from the time when, in 1875, the steamer Petrovski, drawing 3½ feet of water, picked a passage for itself as far as Nukus. Three years later another steamer, the Samarkand, with a draught of 3 feet and of 24 horsepower, made the journey from Petro Alexandrovsk to Kelif. Between 1878 and 1880 further attempts were made to demonstrate the navigability of this waterway; but between 1880 and 1887 there was so much conflict of opinion that matters scarcely advanced beyond the experimental stage. At that date the increasing importance of the interests of Russia along the Afghan border made evident the advisability of improving all possible lines of communication with it. With this end in view, the Russian Government equipped a small fleet of steamers for river service and the navigation of the Oxus to-day is controlled by these vessels, which are described as the Government Amu Daria Flotilla. Between Patta Hissar on the middle reaches and Khiva, Petro Alexandrovsk and Kungrad on the lower reaches, these craft conduct a regular shipping business, Farab and Charjui acting as the central depôt to the service—Farab holding the headquarters of the company and Charjui being the principal anchorage.
From Patta Hissar to Charjui the journey occupies between seven and ten days, dependent upon the size of the steamer and the character of the voyage. Sand banks are a perpetual menace to rapid navigation, and the length of time varies according to the immunity of the undertaking from mishap. From Charjui to Kungrad the same amount of time is usually required.
The ports of call between Patta Hissar and Charjui are: