if it were certain, 1st, that tlie Artesian well could be sunk for 

 the sum at which it was estimated ; 2nd, that after it was finished 

 it would produce the requisite quantity of water; and, 3rd, that 

 the water so obtained would be suitable for the purposes of 

 the Garden (for it is not the water from every Artesian well 

 that is so). The calculated payment to the Water Comjaany, 

 with aU economy in the use of the water, wovdd exceed three 

 times the interest on the money which it was reckoned would 

 be required to sink the Artesian well. But the sinking of 

 Artesian wells is proverbially a lottery : some unexpected impe- 

 diment may double or quadruple the estimated expense ; or, 

 after boring until the funds have been exhausted, the attempt 

 has to be given up in despair ; or, supposing the attempt to be 

 successful, the supply of water may be insufficient, or, under con- 

 stant demand, may gradually diminish ; or, yet again, supposing 

 the water to be reached, and to be sufficient in quantity, its 

 quality may be tinsuitcd for the purposes for which it is wanted, 

 from its containing saline and mineral ingredients. These 

 risks seemed so formidable that the Council might perhaps 

 have declined encountering them, had not Messrs. Easton, Amos, 

 and Sons, their hydraulic engineers, relieved them from theii' 

 embaiTassment by undertaking to sink the well on the principle 

 of "no cure no pay." These gentlemen were so confident of 

 success, that they not only undei-took to sink the well for the 

 estimated price, but also guaranteed a supply of 75 gallons of 

 water per minute. This determined the Council to undertake 

 the work. Supposing it successful, the great volume of water 

 which they recpiired for their cascade, basins, and fountains — 

 which formed by far the greatest part of what they would have 



