It Is Tepid At Its Source In Koba, And Even At Medina Slightly Preserves Its Temperature.

There are also many wells scattered over the town; every garden has one, by which it is irrigated; and wherever the ground is bored to the depth of twenty-five or thirty feet, water is found in plenty.

Of some wells the water is sweet enough for drinking; of others quite brackish. The fertility of the fields and gardens is in proportion to the quality of the well-water; those irrigated with brackish water, repay badly the labour of their owners; the date-trees alone thriving equally well in any place.

In addition to the water of the wells and the aqueduct, the town in winter time receives a supply from the considerable torrent called Seyl el Medina, or Seyl Bathan, which flows from S. to N. passing across the suburbs, and losing itself in a stony valley to the N.W. [All the neighbouring torrents lose themselves in a low ground in the western mountains, called El Ghaba, and also El Zaghaba. See Samhoudy.] A heavy rain for one night will fill its bed, though it usually decreases as fast

[p.329] as it swells. In that part of the suburb, called El Ambarye, we find a good arched stone bridge thrown across its banks, where it is about forty feet in breadth. The neighbouring country abounds with similar torrents, which fill many ponds and low grounds, where the water often remains till the summer months:

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Words from 125932 to 126184 of 182297