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66

seated on small mounds of earth raised for the purpose, by which the weight of the body assists in raising the load, as it is swung towards the gutter or basin formed on the bank to receive it. The movements of the men are regulated by chanting, a custom of great antiquity, and adopted in all kinds of manual labor where more than one person were engaged. Sonnerat has figured and described (Vol. ii, 132,) a similar contrivance of the Hindoos. They use a basket for watering, which is made impenetrable with cow dung and clay; it is suspended by four cords; two men hold a cord in each hand, draw up the water, and empty it in balancing the basket." Mr. Ward says this machine is commonly used in the south of Bengal to water the land. Hist. Hindoos, 92. Travelers in China have noticed it in use there. "Where the elevation of the bank over which water is to be lifted is trifling, they sometimes adopt the following simple method. A light water-tight basket or bucket is held suspended on ropes between two men, who, by alternately tightening and relaxing the ropes by which they hold it between them, give a certain swinging motion to the bucket, which first fills it with water, and then empties it by a jerk on the higher level; the elastic spring which is in the bend of the ropes, serving to diminish the labor." Davis' China, Vol. ii, 358. Chinese Repos. Vol. iii, 125. Sir George Staunton also described it, with an engraving; by which it appears the Chinese do not use a bank of

earth or any other prop, like the Egyptians, to support them in their la

bor. Osbeck has noticed a peculiar feature in working these baskets. He says Chinese laborers TWIST the cords as they lower the vessel, and when it is raised, the untwisting of them, overturns it and discharges the contents. This mode of raising water in China, was noticed by Gamelli, in 1695, although not particularly described by him: he says "the Chinese draw up water in a basket, two men working at the rope."

66

Of all employments in ancient and modern Egypt, this may be considered the most laborious and degrading. The wretched peasants, naked or nearly so, may be seen daily, from one end of Egypt to the other, in the exercise of this severe labor. "I have seen them," says Volney, pass whole days thus drawing water from the Nile, exposed naked to the sun, which would kill us.' To this mode of raising water there is probably an allusion in the latter clause of the passage already quoted from the 81st Psalm: His hands were delivered from the pots," or "baskets," as the word is sometimes translated, and is so in this instance in the margin of the common English version. Indeed, it was peculiarly appropriate that a Psalm, written as this was, to celebrate the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, should allude to some of the severest tasks imposed upon them while under it. Raising of water to irrigate the land was emphatically THE LABOR OF EGYPT," from which they were freed.

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Some additional remarks to those on page 81, respecting other arts and customs delineated on Egyptian monuments, may interest some readers. Salting fish seems to have been a regular profession in ancient Egypt, and by processes similar to those now in use; although it was not till the 15th century that the art was known in modern Europe, when William Bukkum, a Dutchman, who died in 1447, "found out the art of salting, smoking, and preserving herrings" It is also not a little singular that the Egyptians had a religious rite, in which, as in modern Lent, every person ate fish. They used the spear, hook and line; drag, seine and other nets. Part of a net, with leads to sink it, has been found at Thebes. Wealthy individuals had private fish-ponds, in which they angled. They hunted

Chap. 11.]

the Egyptians.

87

with dogs; and also with the lion, which was tamed for that purpose. The noose or lasso, and various traps, were common. Cattle were branded with the names of their owners. In taking birds, they had decoys and nets, like modern fowlers. Beer was an Egyptian beverage, and onions a favorite esculent-these were as superior in taste to ours, as in the elegance of the bunches in which they were tied. At feasts they had music and dancing, castanets, and even the pirouette of Italian and French artistes. They had 'grace' at meals; and wore wreaths of flowers and nosegays. Essences in bottles and ointments, the odor of some of which remains. The ladies wore necklaces formed of beads of gold, glass, and of precious stones, and even of imitation stones. In dress they had cotton and linen cloths: some of the latter were so fine as to be compared to woven air, through which the person was distinctly seen; and the former of patterns similar to those of modern calicos. Ezekiel speaks of "fine linen with broidered work from Egypt;" and in Exodus it is often mentioned. They had tissues of silver and gold, and cloth formed wholly of the latter. In furniture, carpets and rugs: one of the latter was found at Thebes, having figures of a boy and a goose wrought on it. Toilet boxes inlaid with various colored woods, and ornamented with ivory and golden studs. Sofas, chairs, stools and ottomans, all imitated in modern articles. Bedsteads enclosed in mosqueto nets; and pillows, the latter of wood, the material of which they were formerly made in Europe. Inlaid works of gold, silver, and bronze. Vases of elegant forms and elaborate workmanship: great numbers of these are represented among the varieties of tribute carried by foreigners to Thothmes III, in whose reign the Israelites left Egypt. Door-hinges and bolts of bronze, similar to the modern; scalebeams, enameling. Gold-beating and gilding. Gold and silver wire; some specimens are flattened with the hammer, others are believed to have been drawn. Vessels with spouts like those of our tea-kettles: one of the best proofs of skill in working sheet metal.

Wheel

Glass blowers are represented at work, and vessels identical with our demijohns and Florence flasks have been found, and both protected with reed or wicker work-besides, pocket bottles covered with leather, and other vessels of glass, cut, cast and blown. Goldsmiths in their shops are shown, with bellows, blow-pipes, crucibles and furnaces; golden baskets of open work; solder, hard and soft, the latter an alloy of tin and lead. Stone cutting; the form of the mallet the same as ours. Chisels of bronze; one found, is nine and a quarter inches long, and weighs one pound twelve ounces-its form resembles those now in use. wrights and carriage makers at work; from which it is ascertained that the bent or improved carriage pole of modern days, was in use upwards of three thousand years ago. Carpenters' and cabinet makers' shops, are represented; from which and from specimens of work extant, we learn that dovetailing and doweling, glue and veneering were common. Adzes, saws, hatchets, drills and bows, were all of bronze. Models of boats. The leather cutter's knife had a semicircular blade, and was identical with the modern one. Shoe and sandal makers had straight and bent awls; the latter was supposed to have been a modern invention—the bristle at the end of a thread does not seem to have been used, as one person is scen drawing the thread through a hole with his teeth. Lastly, Egyptian ladies wore their hair plaited and curled; they had mirrors, needles, pins, and jewelry in great abundance; they had fans and combs; one of the latter has teeth larger on one side than on the other, and the centre is carved and was probably inlaid. Their children had dolls and other toys; and the gentlemen used walking canes and wore wigs, which were common.

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Single and Double Gutters.

[Book I,

CHAPTER XII.

Gutters: Single do.-Double do.-Jantu of Hindostan; Ingenious mode of working it-Referred to in Deuteronomy-Other Asiatic machines moved in a similar mannner-Its Antiquity. Combination of levers and gutters-Swinging or Pendulum Machine-Rocking gutters--Dutch Scoop-Flash Wheel.

Most of the machines hitherto noticed, raise water by means of flexible cords or chains, and are generally applicable to wells of great depth. We now enter upon the examination of another variety, which, with one exception, (the chain of pots) are composed of inflexible materials, and raise water to limited heights only. Another important distinction between them is this-In preceding machines, the mechanical powers' are distinct from the hydraulic apparatus, i. e. the wheels, pulleys, windlass, capstan, &c. form no essential part of the machines proper for raising the water, but are merely employed to transmit motion to them; whereas those we are now about to describe, are made in the form of levers, wheels, &c. and are propelled as such. The following figure, represents one of the earliest specimens.

It is simply a trough or gutter, the open end of which rests on the bank, over which the water is to be elevated; the other end being closed is plunged into the liquid, and then raised till its contents are discharged. It forms what is called a lever of the second order, the load being between the fulcrum and the power.

This figure represents an improvement, being a double gutter, or two of the former united and placed across a trough or reservoir designed to receive the water. A partition is formed in the centre, and two openings made through the bottom on each of its sides, through which the water that is raised escapes. The machine is worked by one or more men, who alternately plunge the ends into the water, and consequently pro

Chap. 12.]

The Jantu.

89

duce a continuous discharge. Sometimes, openings are made in the bottom next the laborers, and covered by flaps, to admit the water without the necessity of wholly immersing those ends. Machines of this kind are described by Belidor, but he has not indicated their origin. From their simplicity, they probably date from remote antiquity. They are obviously, modifications of the Jantu of Hindostan and other parts of Asia, and were perhaps carried to Europe, (if not known there before) among other oriental devices, soon after a communication with that country was opened by the Cape of Good Hope.

THE JANTU.

The jantu is a machine extensively used in Bengal and other parts of India, to raise water for the irrigation of land, and is thus described by by Mr. Ward, in his History of the Hindoos. "It consists of a hollow trough of wood, about fifteen feet long, six inches wide, and ten inches deep, and is placed on a horizontal beam lying on bamboos fixed in the bank of a pond or river. One end of the trough rests upon the bank, where a gutter is prepared to carry off the water, and the other end is dipped in the water, by a man standing on a stage, plunging it in with his foot. A long bamboo with a large weight of earth at the farther end of it, is fastened to the end of the jantu near the river, and passing over the gallows before mentioned, poises up the jantu full of water, and causes it to empty itself into the gutter. This machine raises water three feet, but by placing a series of them one above another, it may be raised to any height, the water being discharged into small reservoirs, sufficiently deep to admit the jantu above, to be plunged low enough to fill it." Mr. Ward observes, that water is thus conveyed over rising ground to the distance of a mile and more. In some parts of Bengal, they have different methods of raising water, "but the principle is the same."

There is in this apparently rude machine, a more perfect application of mechanical science, than would appear to a general observer. As the object of the long bamboo lever is to overcome the weight of the water, it might be asked, why not load the end of the jantu itself, which is next the bank sufficiently for that purpose, and thereby avoid the use of this additional lever, which renders the apparatus more complex, and apparently unnecessarily so? A little reflection will develope the reasons that led to its introduction, and will at the same time furnish another proof of oriental ingenuity. As the position of the jantu is nearly horizontal when it discharges the water, if the end were loaded as proposed, it would descend on the bank with an increasing velocity; for the weight would be at the end of a lever which virtually lengthened as it approached the horizontal position; and this effect would be still further augmented by the resistance of the water diminishing as the jantu rose, that is, by its flowing towards the centre-the consequence would be, that the violent concussions, when thus brought in contact with the bank, would speedily shake it to pieces. Now this result is ingeniously avoided by the lever and its weight. Thus, when the laborer has plunged the end of the jantu next him into the water, this lever (as we suppose, for we have not seen a figure of it) is placed, so as to be nearly in a horizontal position, by which its maximum force is exerted at the precise time when it is required, i. e. when the jantu is at its lowest position and full of water; and as the latter ascends, the loaded end of the lever descends, and its force diminishing, brings the end of the jantu gradually to rest. A somewhat similar effect might be produced, by making the load on the le

90

The Jantu.

[Book I.

ver descend into the water, especially if its specific gravity varied but little from that fluid. Traits like this, which are often found in ancient devices, are no mean proofs of skill in the older mechanicians; and as professors of the fine arts, discover the works of masters by certain characteristic touches, and by the general effect of a painting or sculpture-so professors of the useful arts may point to features like the above, as proofs that they bear the impress of the master mechanics of old.

At what period in the early history of our species this class of machines was first devised, can only be conjectured; they are evidently of very high antiquity; this is inferable not only from their simplicity, extensive use over all Asia-where it may be said, machines for raising water have never changed-but also from the mode of working them, by the feet. Every one acquainted with the bible, knows that numerous operations were thus performed. The juice of grapes was expressed by men treading them; and the tombs of Egypt contain sculptures representing this and other operations. Mortar was mixed and clay prepared for the potter by the feet. The Chinese work their mangles by the feet; and both they and modern Egyptians, and Hindoos, move a variety of other machines by the same means: among these are several for raising water, as the Picotah of Hindostan, (described in the next chapter,) the chain pump of China, and we may here remark, that all the machines for raising water described by Vitruvius, with one exception, were propelled by the feet, or as expressed in the English translation, by the "treading of men It is not at all improbable, that to the JANTU, Moses alluded when describing to his countrymen the land to which he was leading them: "A land of hills and valleys," that "drinketh water of the rain of heaven," where they should not be employed, as in Egypt, where rain was generally unknown, in the perpetual labor of raising it to irrigate the soil: "For the land whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot." Deut. xi, 10. Some authors suppose this passage refers to the oriental custom of opening and closing the small channels for water, that intersect the fields; but this trifling labor would scarcely have been mentioned by Moses, as constituting an important distinction between the two countries. It was in fact common to both. It is much more probable that he referred to the severe and incessant toil of raising water, to which they had been subject in Egypt, and which would be in a great degree superseded in Canaan by the "rain of heaven." He could not possibly have pointed out to them, a more encouraging feature of the country to which they were migrating.

A very interesting proof that the Egyptians in the time of Moses did propel machines by the feet, has recently been brought to light. In one of the tombs at Thebes, which bears the name of THOTHMES III. there is a sculptured representation of some Egyptian bellows which were thus worked. We shall have occasion to refer to them when we come to inquire into the history of the pump, in the third book. This mode of transmitting human energy appears to have been quite a favorite one in ancient times; for the purpose of illustration we will describe one which is identical with the Jantu; and is moreover one of the most common implements connected with ancient and modern agriculture in the east: "The PEDAL," says Mr. Ward," is a rough piece of wood, generally the trunk of a tree, balanced on a pivot, with a head something like a mallet; it is used to separate rice from the husk, to pound brick dust for buildings, &c. A person stands at the further end, and with his feet presses it down, which raises up the head, after which he lets it fall on the rice or brick.