Of opposing
hills, now leaping into a lower valley into a reservoir, from
which it is again led through this arduous country until it at
length reaches the land which it is destined to render fertile.
There has been a degree of engineering skill displayed in forming
aqueducts through such formidable obstacles; the hills are lined
out in every direction with these proofs of industry, and their
winding course can be traced round the grassy sides of the steep
mountains, while the paddy-fields are seen miles away in the
valleys of Ouva stretched far beneath.
At least eight out of ten of these watercourses are dry, and the
masonry required in the sudden angles of ravines, has, in most
cases, fallen to decay. Even those water-courses still in
existence are of the second class; small streams have been
conducted from their original course, and these serve for the
supply of the present population.
>From the remains of deserted water-courses of the first class,
it is evident that more than fifty times the volume of water was
then required that is in use at present, and in the same ratio
must have been the amount of population. In those days rivers
were diverted from their natural channels; opposing hills were
cut through, and the waters thus were led into another valley to
join a stream flowing in, its natural bed, whose course,
eventually obstructed by a dam, poured its accumulated waters
into canals which branched to various localities.
