The Water Supply of Constantinople.. 



17 



cups holding much less than a gill, and spirituous liquors, 

 by the few that use them, are swallowed without adding any 

 water. 



All the fountains are supplied with cups ; at the mosques, 

 water may frequently he found ready poured out in long 

 rows of cups for each passer-by to take what he needs, 

 without pay; this provision being made in consequence of 

 the pious legacy of some individual. 



In the business streets, there are shops devoted principally 

 to the sale of water, by the keg, or by the glass, at one-tenth 

 of a penny for a glass, the water being brought in such 

 cases from well-known and favorite springs, from ten or 

 fifteen miles distant. 



I once spent a few days at Aleni Dagh, or " mountain 

 of the world,*'* a village twelve miles from the city, near 

 the hill of that name. From the foot of the hill, in different 

 ravines, burst out small springs of water, each of great 

 purity, but with a slightly differing taste. The citizens 

 passing the summer there, in the morning or evening, 

 give their orders regarding the water to be brought to them. 

 And thus one would say, bring me water from Silver spring, 

 another, bring me from Apple spring, and another, from 

 Diamond spring, and so on. And when the waters were 

 brought, each one could distinguish the taste of his favorite 

 water, from that of each of the other springs. 



Pic-nics and summer excursions are all devised primarily 

 to visit a fountain or spring in the country, rather than to 

 visit a grove or a hill. 



. I will close with only one or two remarks suggested by 

 our circumstances in Albany. Having in mind the various 

 schemes for a fuller supply of water proposed by the worthy 

 TVater Commissioners, the question presents itself, whether 

 something might not be accomplished by maintaining the 

 water shed of our reservoirs carefully covered with a forest, 

 Trans, tut.] 3 



