communication. This resembles the corvée of old France in some measure, but is much more oppressive; for the soo naziri fines most rigorously all who dwell in the vicinity of any breach or injury unless they give immediate information of the disaster. So important are these water-courses considered that the sultans have always been in the habit of making annually a formal visit of inspection, which is accompanied with much ceremony, and ordering such improvements and alterations as are deemed necessary.

It is impossible to travel anywhere in the vicinity of Constantinople without being struck with the great pains taken by the Turks to treasure up every rill, or the minutest trickle from the face of the rocks. These are carefully collected in marble or brick reservoirs, and the surplus is conveyed by pipes to the main stream. In passing through sequestered dells, the traveller frequently comes suddenly upon one of these sculptured marble fountains, which adds just enough of ornament to embellish the rural scene. They are frequently decorated with inscriptions setting forth the greatness and goodness of Providence, and inviting the weary traveller to make due acknowledgments for the same. Unlike our civilized ostentation, the name of the benevolent constructor never appears on these sculptured stones. The quaint Turkish adage, which serves as a rule of conduct, is well exemplified in this as well as in many other instances; "Do good and throw it into the sea; if the fishes don't know it, God will."

Among the hills at various distances, from fifteen to twenty miles from the city, are constructed large artificial reservoirs. These are termed bendts, a word of Persian origin, and are built in the following manner: Advantage is taken of a natural situation, such as a narrow valley or gorge between two mountains, and a strong and substantial work of masonry is carried across, sufficiently high to give the water its required level. Four of these bendts were visited and examined, but there are several

others which we did not see. A description of one of the largest will give an idea of the manner in which they are constructed.

A solid wall of marble masonry, eighty feet wide, and supported by two large buttresses, rises to the height of a hundred and thirty feet from the bottom of the valley. It is four hundred feet long, and the top is covered with large marble slabs of dazzling brilliancy. On the side next the reservoir, a substantial marble balustrade, three feet in height, gives a finish to this Cyclopean undertaking. A tall marble tablet indicates the date of its erection, or more probably of its repair or reconstruction. From the date, 1211, it appears to have been built about forty-six years ago. It is called the Validay Bendt, and is said to have been built by the mother of the reigning sultan. It is furnished with a waste gate, and, at a short distance below, the water from the reservoir is carried across a ravine by a short aqueduct. About two miles from this is another bendt, erected in 1163, which corresponds to the year 1749. This is also a magnificent work, although inferior in size to the preceding. They both supply the aqueduct of Batchikeui, which, as has already been stated, furnishes the suburbs of Pera and Galata with water. Beyond Belgrade are other

reservoirs which will be elsewhere noticed. These supply Constantinople proper, with water.

In order to convey a clear idea of the direction of these various hydraulic works, it may be advisable to follow each singly. Beyond Belgrade is a large bendt, which sends its waters into a basin already partially supplied from another reservoir. A mile farther on, the water is carried across two aqueducts, the larger of which is known as the aqueduct of Mustapha III. From this it is conveyed into the aqueduct of Justinian. This is twelve miles from Constantinople. It consists of two tiers of arches, each forty-two feet wide. The arches are four in number; the total length of the aqueduct, with its abutments, is seven hundred and twenty feet, and its greatest height a hundred and ten feet. A gallery pierces the square pillars, forming the first story, of arches, and allows a passage through its whole length. There are four small arches at each end of the first story, about twelve feet wide. The precise epoch of the construction of this aqueduct is not known, although it is commonly attributed to the Emperor Justinian II. This aqueduct receives also water from two others, the principal of which is known under the name of Solyman. This is sixteen hundred feet long, and eighty feet high, and consists of two stories of fifty arches each. It is a Turkish work. Another aqueduct also conveys water into that of Justinian, and is generally supposed to be of the age of Constantine. It is three stories high; the lowest tier consists of thirtythree arches fifteen feet wide, the second of twelve arches, and the uppermost of four. It is three hundred and fifty feet in length. All these magnificent and costly structures are intended for the supply of Constantinople alone, and we will now trace the course of the water. Leaving the aqueduct of Justinian, it follows the right bank of the Cydaris, and receiving in its course various tributary rivulets from the neighbouring hills, it enters within the walls of Constantinople near the aygry kapoosi, or crooked gate, whence

it is distributed over the city. It was impossible to ascertain the quantity of water furnished through this series of hydraulic works; but, judging by comparison with that which supplies the suburbs, it cannot be less than fifteen millions of gallons within twenty-four hours.

We will now return to the aqueduct of Batchikeui, and follow the direction of its waters. These are carefully brought round the heads of the valleys in covered canals, in which there are at certain intervals sudden breaks or alterations in the level, which answer the double purpose of agitating the water in contact with air and of precipitating its impurities. It likewise affords fountains on the road for the use of cattle and weary travellers. When hills intervene, tunnels are boldly driven through, at the depth of fifty, eighty, and in some places a hundred feet. The course of these tunnels may be traced on the road between Pera and Buyukdery by numerous pits, which were about two hundred feet apart. These pits were convenient for giving air and light beneath, and also afforded a ready means of getting rid of the excavated earth and rocks. It is possible, that at the period when these tunnels were made, the pits were previously dug, in order to enable them to give the necessary direction and level to the subterranean passage. Branches from this main stream are continually thrown off to supply the villages, and the palaces of the sultan along the Bosphorus. Notwithstanding all these expensive works, it sometimes happens, after long droughts, that the supply becomes scanty in the suburbs; and during my residence here, I have known water to be sold at Pera and Galata at from two to six cents the pail ful. This, however, never occurs in the city itself, which is abundantly supplied at all seasons of the year.

Where a valley of great extent is to be crossed, the Turks have resorted to an ingenious contrivance, which I have nowhere seen clearly described, but which, from its simplicity and value, merits a more particular notice.

From the want of sufficient mechanical skill to manufacture water-pipes strong enough to bear the weight of a large column of water, they adopted the following plan: In the direction of the proposed water-channel, a number of square pillars are erected at certain short intervals. They are about five feet square, constructed of stone, and, slightly resembling pyramids, taper to the summit. They vary in height, according to the necessities of the case, from ten to fifty feet, and in some instances are even higher.

They form a striking peculiarity in Turkish scenery, and it was some time before the principle upon which they were constructed was apparent. The water leaves the brow of a hill, and descending in earthen pipes rises in leaden or earthen ones, up one side of this pillar, to its former level, which must be, of course, the summit of the pillar, or sooteray, as it is called by the Turks.* The water is here discharged into a stone basin as large as the top of the sooteray, and is discharged by another pipe, which descends along the opposite side of the pillar, enters the ground, advances to the next sooteray, which it ascends and descends in the same manner; and in this way the level of the water

* This word is from the Turkish sooter aysoo, which means the levelling of the water, and expresses very well the object of the sooteray.