"For public uses the water is made to flow into a fountain, with a stone trough in front of it. The women go to the fountain to fill their jars from the stream that flows through the stone, and the horses and cattle are driven there to drink from the trough. If from any cause the spring dries up there is great distress, and if there is no other water in the immediate neighborhood the site of the village or town must be abandoned. Many of the ruined towns which we find in Palestine to-day were given to desolation in consequence of the drying up of springs or streams.
ONE OF THE WELLS OF BEERSHEBA, WITH ITS WATERING-TROUGHS.
"The scarcity of running water led to the digging of wells, and we find them mentioned in the earliest books of the Bible. There are many wells of this sort in the country, and some of them are thousands of years old. We read in Genesis of the wells that were dug by Abraham and his descendants, where the flocks were watered. The wells of Beersheba which were made by the servants of Isaac (Gen. xxvi. 32, 33) can be seen to-day, and the stone watering-troughs from which the flocks drank are where they have stood for thousands of years. In some of the ancient wells there are stone steps leading down to the water, while in others the water was drawn to the surface by means of buckets at the ends of ropes. The ropes made deep channels in the stone where they rubbed against it. Some of the wells have been dry for hundreds of years, but the stones that surround them remain undisturbed.
INTERIOR OF A CISTERN.
"Where there are no running streams or springs, and the nature of the ground does not favor the digging of wells, the people rely upon cisterns to supply their wants. A cistern is simply a large excavation in the earth or rock; if in the former, it is lined with stone and cement to make it water-proof, but if it is hewn in the solid rock no such precaution is necessary. Water is collected here during the rainy season and treasured up for use in the dry summer. Some of the cisterns are of great extent, and will hold water sufficient for great numbers of people during several months. They are found all through the country; and even where there is a stream of water the whole year round it is often the custom to keep cisterns filled with water, to guard against an unusual drought. Some of the cities of the East have vast cisterns beneath them, and if you ever go to Constantinople you will see the cistern of 'The Thousand and One Pillars,' which gets its name from the number of columns that support the roof.