National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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Overland to India : vol.1 |
XXIX
WAITING IN VAIN
335
I
erected in the form of a dome, and in the subterranean crypt thus produced the height from the bottom of the walled-in cistern to the roof is a little more than 13 feet. The whole is called an abarnbar, or water reservoir. The basin is 20 feet long by 8 broad, and its bottom lies I I2 feet below the surface of the ground. If the basin is at any time filled with water, there is then only 3 feet between its surface and the roof, where daylight enters by two small openings. A corkscrew staircase under a vaulted roof leads down to the bottom of the crypt, by which the water can easily be reached even when it stands at its lowest. At this time the bottom was dry, and the mud deposited there had cracked. But a tendency to
moisture was noticeable after the rain of the night. During
r'
the continuous rains of spring the cistern is generally filled
so full that the supply of water lasts through the summer. Caravans coming from the north sometimes take the liberty of watering their camels from the cistern instead
2 of waiting till they reach Jandak, 4 farsakh farther south.
rt But they do it by stealth, for the cisterns are intended
only for human beings, and those who water their camels from them are fined by the authorities of Jandak if they are caught in the act.
The ruin in which we took refuge was connected with the Hauz-i-Haji-Ramazan, named after a man from the village of Ferrukhi near Khur. This Haji Ramazan had, twenty years ago, bequeathed ioo tuman for its construction. A hauz at the edge of the desert is a boon to wayfarers.
I How many have come staggering out of the desert, half
dead with thirst, and have moistened their parched throats with the cool sweet water ! The man who provides by his liberality such an alleviation for his fellow-men gains merit
r for himself in the sight of Allah. Therefore such works
of charity are common in Persia.
But how does the water find its way into such a hauz ? some one may ask. Let us, then, visit another of these simple and ingenious contrivances which, though much ruined, gives a good insight into the system. It also has its staircase going down to the cistern, which in this case is round, 23 feet in diameter, and protected from
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