THE EARLY COLD WEATHER 183 



machine itself and all its sounds and movements are 

 suggestive of quiet, of meditation and repose. 



The Persian wheel can only be used where the water 

 lies very near the surface. Twelve or fourteen feet is, 

 I think, the extreme limit. Beyond this limit the 

 weight of the pots when filled with water becomes 

 too great for the ropes to bear, or for the drum to 

 raise. It is a curious fact that in all Upper India it 

 is only in the immediate neighbourhood of this station 

 that the water does lie thus near to the surface, and 

 consequently it is only here, and in the small tract 

 of land just around, that the Persian wheel is found. 



Elsewhere in Upper India the wells are deep, and 

 the water is drawn up in great leathern bags. The 

 bag is attached to a rope ; the rope passes over a wheel, 

 and is hitched by a hook at the end to the yoke of 

 a pair of bullocks. The bullocks walk down a long 

 incline, and as they do so they draw up the bag. To 

 raise the water in this manner, two men are required. 

 One man drives the bullocks, the other man stands 

 at the mouth of the well, receives the bag as it reaches 

 the summit, and empties the water it has brought up 

 into the reservoir : from the reservoir it flows into the 

 field or garden. 



In this part of the country the man who receives 

 the bag sings as he works. His song is a monotonous 

 chant. When heard at a little distance it is not un- 

 pleasing. The origin of the custom is accounted for 

 by a pretty legend. Once in former times a traveller, 

 so the legend states, was found lying dead in a field. 

 It was the hot season, and he had perished from thirst ; 



