14      IN RUSSIAN TURKESTAN
Alexander the Great. Every drop of water in the
river is speedily utilised for fertilising the land. A
plan of the canals into which it flows reminds one
of a skeleton laurel leaf. Rows of wide canals spring
from either side of the river and run in almost
parallel lines; from these again spring narrower
ones, and so the network is continued till every
drop of water has been used up. In order that no
landowner may get more than his fair share of
water, the canals nearest to the source of the river
are closed periodically, when sufficient water has
flowed down them. As there are no proper dykes,
the work of closing canals is extremely arduous; it
is accomplished by means of hard manual labour.
Heavy stones are heaped together and kept in place
with branches of trees. The strongest of these
primitive dykes would not last three years.
It has been estimated that 2,ooo cubic feet of
water a minute are needed to water the province of
Samarkand.   Bokhara needs 6ooo, so the total
required is I8,ooo cubic feet a minute. Now the
actual supply of water in spring is never more than
6ooo cubic feet, so it is only by portioning it out
with the greatest care that the Sarts can get enough
moisture for the land. Between the source of the
river and Bokhara there are no less than ninety
wide canals, not to speak of the vast network of
narrower ones between. By the time it reaches
Bokhara the Zarafshan entirely loses its identity,