To pass through the edge of the upper leather and
secure it to the sole exactly as the shoe of a horse is fitted to the
hoof. The nails are long and thin, and are riveted by turning the points
round and hammering them like a coil upon the leather; the heads of
these nails are nearly as large as a shilling, and the boots are
exceedingly clumsy; but they increase the height of the wearer by a full
inch.
My amiable driver of the blue van, Georgi, accompanied me in my walk,
and fired several useless shots at wild partridges. We now arrived at
the spot where the water is led by a subterranean aqueduct to Larnaca.
This principle is so original, and has from such remote times been
adopted in this arid island, that it merits a detailed description. The
ancient vestiges of similar works in every portion of Cyprus prove that
in all ages the rainfall must have been uncertain, and that no important
change has taken place in the meteorological condition of the country.
In a search for water-springs the Cypriote is most intelligent, and the
talent appears to be hereditary. If a well is successful at an elevation
that will enable the water to command lower levels at a distance, it may
be easily understood that the supply of one well representing a unit
must be limited. The Cypriote well-sinker works upon a principle of
simple multiplication. If one well produces a certain flow, ten wells
will multiply the volume, if connected by a subterranean tunnel, and
provided the supply of water in the spring is unlimited.
It appears that Cyprus exhibits an anomaly in the peculiarity of a small
rainfall but great subterranean water-power; some stratum that is
impervious retains the water at depths varying according to local
conditions. The well-sinker commences by boring, or rather digging, a
circular hole two feet six inches in diameter. The soil of Cyprus is so
tenacious that the walls of the shaft require no artificial support;
this much facilitates the work, and the labourer, armed with a very
short-handled pick, patiently hacks his vertical way, and sends up the
earth by means of a basket and rope, drawn by a primitive but effective
windlass above, formed of a cradle of horizontal wooden bars. The man in
charge simply turns the windlass without a handle, by clutching each
successive bar, which, acting as a revolving lever, winds up the rope
with the weight attached.
The rapidity of the well-sinking naturally depends upon the quality of
the soil; if rock is to be cut through, it is worked with a mason's axe
and the cold chisel. Fortunately the geological formation is principally
sedimentary limestone, which offers no great resistance. At length the
water is reached. The well is now left open for a few days that an
opinion may be formed of the power; if favourable, another precisely
similar well is sunk at a distance of fifteen or sixteen yards in the
direction towards the point required by the future aqueduct. The spring
being satisfactory, the work proceeds with vigour. We will accept the
first well as forty feet in depth; if the surface of the earth were an
exact level, the next well would be an equal depth; but as the water
retains its natural level, the vertical measurement of each shaft will
depend upon the formation of the upper ground. The object of the
well-sinker is to create a chain of wells united by a subterranean
tunnel, in order to multiply the power of a unit and to obtain the
entire supply of water; he therefore sinks perhaps ten or twenty wells
to the same level, and he cuts a narrow tunnel from one to the other,
thus connecting his shafts at the water-line, so as to form a canal or
aqueduct. Precisely as the mole upheaves at certain intervals the earth
that it has scraped from its gallery, the well-sinker clears his tunnel
by sending up the contents through the vertical shafts fifteen yards
apart, around the mouth of which a funnel-shaped mound is formed by the
debris.
These preliminary walls being completed and the water-volume tested, the
neighbourhood is examined with the hope of discovering other springs
that may upon the same principle be conducted towards the main line of
the proposed aqueduct. It is not uncommon to find several chains of
wells converging from different localities to the desired water-head,
and as these are at higher levels, a considerable hydraulic power is
obtained, sufficient in many instances not only to fill the tunnels, but
to force the water to a greater elevation if required.
The water-head being thoroughly established, the sinking of a chain of
wells proceeds, and the tunnels are arranged at a given inclination to
conduct the water to the destined spot. This may be many miles distant,
necessitating many hundred wells, which may comprise great superficial
changes; hills that are bored through necessitate deep shafts, and
valleys must be spanned by aqueducts of masonry. In this manner the
water is conducted from the springs of Arpera near the spot where the
river issues from the narrow valley among the hills, and supplies
Larnaca, about eight miles distant from the first head. The British
authorities propose to substitute iron pipes for the present aqueduct;
but it is to be hoped that the new scheme will be an independent and
additional work, that will in no way interfere with the important gift
of Cheflik Pacha, which has existed for nearly two centuries, and which,
if kept in repair, will supply the necessary volume.
CHAPTER III.
ROUTE TO NICOSIA.
Having proved that any further progress west was quite impracticable by
vans, I returned to the new main road from Larnaca, and carefully
avoiding it, we kept upon the natural surface by the side drain, and
travelled towards Dali, the ancient Idalium.
