Mr Robertson on (he Mechanical Arts of Persia, 301 



larly the case when the rivers afford little fall in their course, 

 as the limited capital of the people precludes any attempt to 

 conduct a canal along an extended district, or the erection of 

 machinery to raise the water even to an inconsiderable height. 

 As far as I know, the celebrated Persian wheel is now un- 

 known in the country from which it derived its name ; nor is 

 there any hope of foreigners introducing a better system 

 where property is so insecure. It must be admitted, however, 

 that the inhabitants shew no want of ingenuity or enterprize, 

 when they see clearly the advantages of any undertaking 

 suited to their limited means, and this is strikingly displayed 

 in their mode of procuring water in the populous districts. 

 They sink a series of small shallow shafts in the thick alluvial 

 clay, and connect the pits by means of small mines or levels. 

 A subterranean canal is carried in this way from the flat 

 ground till it meet the slope of the surrounding hills. At this 

 point a cross mine is driven along the face of the hard strata, 

 and numerous small openings are made into the rock, wherever 

 the water makes its appearance. Very considerable streams 

 are often procured in this way, which gush from their hidden 

 sources in a profuse current, after travelling several miles 

 below ground, protected in their course by the clay cover from 

 being evaporated by the overpowering heat of the sun. In 

 travelling through the plains of Persia, immense rows of small 

 hillocks may every where be seen, marking the position of 

 these pits and the lines of the old canals, in districts now 

 quite deserted ; and these at once shew the extent to which 

 this system had at one time been carried, and the wretched- 

 ness to which the country has now been reduced. 



Brick-Making. — A level space of ground having been se- 

 h^cted, near a stream of water, the grass and vegetable soils 

 are carefully removed. The ground is then broken at one 

 extremity of the prepared platform, and the easily pulverized 

 clay is carefully passed through a small meshed riddle, and 

 placed in the hollow, while the stones and roots are thrown 

 behind. When a sufficient quantity of riddled clay has been 

 collected, a small stream of water is allowed to flow into the 

 hollow, and the mass is brought to a proper consistency by 

 treading. The prepared clay is now deposited in different 



