X-ray rocking curves in the Bragg-Laue case diffracting from the side surface of a plane-parallel crystal have been measured using a high-resolution optical system. The full width at half-maximum of the rocking curves is approximately three times narrower than that measured from the top surface. The characteristics of the transmitted beam from the side surface are almost the same as those through a thin crystal in the Bragg case. The rocking curves and the direction of X-ray energy flow in the crystal observed in the experiment can be reproduced using Wagner's approach [Wagner (1956), Z. Phys. 146, 127-168].