14 OVERLAND TO INDIA CHAP. XXXV
At Cha-meji there are nine wells in all, of which only four are in use. The one which provided us with water is round and bricked in with a diameter of 3 feet and a depth of 81 feet, and its slightly saline water had a temperature of 75° when that of the air was only 50°, so that it felt almost hot. A windlass with side pieces rests on posts at either side, and has a line wound round it. It is not worked by hand, but there is a chair-like contrivance of stone in which a man sits and turns the roller with his feet. The water is brought up in two small skin bags kept open by cross pieces of wood, and is received into a trough from which camels can drink.
The rabat of Cha-meji is said to have been built six years ago by a gentleman named Haji Mad Hussein Meherejani, and it is an important halting-place for caravans going from Tebbes westwards. At the edge of the Kevir, said to be half a farsakh distant, grows siah-tagh or " black saxaul," which is higher than a camel.
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