liquid, no light weight of course, but when the bucket is about to come out of the water, the lower cord is very gently manipulated in such a manner as to make the flexible cylinder at the bottom of the bucket bend upwards till its end is on a level with the brim of the latter. Then, when the whole apparatus gets to the top of the well, the tube is turned over the lower pulley, and the precious stream of water is emptied into the reservoir, whence it is carried to the trenches or seguias, and thence to the patches of garden, which are watered by flooding them.
These details may appear trivial, but my readers must pardon me for giving them, and remember what they imply, the possibility of living in our humble little kasr!
The women of the kasr only go into the gardens now and then, just for a little change, or to gather a few baskets of fruit. Of course, I am only alluding to the lower classes, for the wife of the well-to-do has other duties. She must never do anything in the least like the out-door work performed by the men; indeed, she must never on any account go out of her house.
For all that, however, out she does go, especially in a crowded place, such as Kasr-el-Hiran. The least thing is enough as an excuse for her absence; she must go and see the neighbour who has just given birth to a boy; she must visit her mother,
