TRANSACTIONS 



The Water Supply of Constantinople. By Henry A. 



Homes. 



[Read before the Albany Institute, June 4, 1872.] 



In eastern countries pure water is ever a theme of popular 

 interest. The numerous " dry and thirsty lands where no 

 water is," and the liability to droughts in more favorable 

 positions, will always make the question of a supply, of 

 water of the utmost importance. The simple habits of the 

 people, using no beverage in large quantity but water, 

 render the matter of its abundance and quality, a fertile 

 topic of conversation. The population that now inhabit 

 Asia Minor and European Turkey, emigrating from a more 

 arid country, retain as a hereditary gift an anxiety about, 

 and a love for water, not because they need it more or use 

 it more than other people, but because they appreciate it 

 with more intense emotions. The records of the Bible are 

 full of references to artificial arrangements for water by 

 wells and cisterns, even for rural or nomadic tribes. The 

 selection of the sites of the great cities of the old world of 

 Asia has been controlled by their easy supply of water, 

 such as Broosa, Cairo and Damascus. But when Constan- 

 tinople was determined upon as the new capital of the 

 Roman empire, the fact of its position as a place from 

 whence to command two continents predominated over all 

 considerations of an abundance of water. Before giving 

 an account of its supplies of water, allow me to recall to 

 your minds the prominent features of its geography. 



Trans. <viii.~\ 1 



