[Footnote 64: Zeugma means the Bridge. Seleukus Nikator is said to
have established a bridge of boats here, in order to connect the
opposite bank with Apameia, a city which he built on the east side of
the Euphrates (Plinius, _Hist. Nat._ v. 24). Zeugma afterwards was a
usual place for crossing the river; but a bridge of boats could hardly
be permanently kept there, and it appears that Crassus had to
construct a raft. Zeugma is either upon or near the site of Bir, which
is in about 37° N. Lat.]

[Footnote 65: Probably these great hurricanes are not uncommon on the
Euphrates. In the year 1831 a gale sent Colonel Chesney's "little
vessel to the bottom of the river;" but a still greater calamity befel
the Tigris steamer in the Euphrates expedition which was under the
command of Colonel Chesney, in May 1836. A little after one P.M. a
storm appeared bringing with it clouds of sand from the
west-north-west. The two steam-boats the Tigris and the Euphrates were
then passing over the rocks of Es-Geria, which were deeply covered
with water. The Euphrates was safely secured; but the Tigris, being
directed against the bank, struck with great violence; the wind
suddenly veered round and drove her bow off; "this rendered it quite
impossible to secure the vessel to the bank, along which she was blown
rapidly by the heavy gusts; her head falling off into the stream as
she passed close to the Euphrates, which vessel had been backed
opportunely to avoid the concussion." The Tigris perished in this
violent hurricane and twenty men were lost in her. The storm lasted
about eight minutes. Colonel Chesney escaped by swimming to the shore
just before the vessel went down: he was fortunate "to take a
direction which brought him to the land, without having seen anything
whatever to guide him through the darkness worse than that of