I found the bridge open

TCD MS 10515 folio 123 recto

TCD MS 10515 folio 123 recto

The left bank of the river. During the floods the bridge is a precarious structure. The pressure on it of the swollen river must be intense; each occasion on which it is opened to admit water traffic, a hundred coolies are employed. On returning on the 1st of the month from the left bank I found the bridge open; this was not an unusual discovery, and I know from experience that it implied a wait for some hours in the boiling sun. I entertained myself by watching the rakish “mahailhas” sailing down the flood before a favouring breeze, carefully shaping a course for the narrow opening in the bridge through which they were swept at a tremendous velocity. They formed a graceful scene of white sails, and a reassuring display of Arab judgement and seamanship.