THE WELL, AND PALM TREES.
The bamboo stage is erected for the purpose of watering the land. The river water is collected in a deep pool, between two brick walls, across which a small stage is fixed, on which a man stands, and his business is to empty the leathern skin which comes up full of water into the reservoir above, prepared for its reception. A long bamboo, with a large weight of earth attached to it at one end, is poised on a stage above, on which a native stands and causes the end towards the river to sink by the weight of his foot; when the skin below, which is attached to a thin bamboo from above, is filled with water, he removes his foot, which causes the water-bag to rise to the height of the reservoir, when the man below empties it and lets it fall again. In some parts, instead of a skin, a basket is used, which is rendered waterproof inside by a coating of clay and mud. Water is thus conveyed to a very great distance from the banks of a river. The fields in India are irrigated with as much care as is bestowed upon a garden, and three harvests are often obtained.
The Bengalī jantŭ for watering the land happily illustrates this passage of Scripture, “Where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs.” (Deut. xi. 10.)
The palm trees next to the well are remarkably beautiful; they are portraits. The one displaying the broad leaves is the fan-palm, from which the large pankhas are made—one leaf alone forms the pankha, or fan, of which three specimens are to be seen in the Museum.