Chap. 3.j Cauldrons. 21 rise are directed towards the centre, where their force is expended against each other. Dyers, brewers, distillers, &c. are well aware of this fact. The remote ancients had therefore observed the inefficiency of straight sided boilers, and applied a simple and beautiful remedy; one whch was possibly suggested by the previous use of natural vessels, as the gourd, &c. This is no mean proof of their sagacity, and of the early progress of the arts of founding and moulding. From the extreme antiquity of these cauldrons, it is not improbable that their form is similar to the pattern, which Tubal-Cain himself used, and which he taught his pupils to imitate. Similar vessels are found in the workshops of Vulcan. See plate 20, Painting, in D'Agincourt's Storia Dell'Arte, Prato, 1827. Brasen cauldrons were formerly considered suitable presents for kings-rewards of valor prizes in the games, &c. Of the gifts offered by Agamemnon to to appease the wrath of Achilles, were— Seven tripods, never sullied yet by fire; Of gold, ten talents; TWENTY CAULDRONS bright." Iliad, ix, 150. Cowper. They were among the goods which Priam took to redeem the body of Hector. He also took ten talents forth of gold, All weighed; two splendid tripods; CAULDRONS four; The prizes at the funeral games on the death of Patrocles, were 'Capacious CAULDRONS, tripods bright.' In the 17th century, they were considered suitable presents to a Persian Emir-" At length he came, and was presented by the caravan-Bashi with a piece of satin, half a piece of scarlet cloth, and two large copper cauldrons." Tavernier's Trav. Lon. 1678. 61. These unobtrusive vessels are now used without exciting a thought of their worth, or of the ingenuity of those to whom we are indebted for them; although they have contributed infinitely more to the real comfort and innocent gratification of man, than all the splendid VASES that were ever made. These have always had their admirers and historians. Volumes embellished with costly illustrations, have been written on their forms, materials, ages and authors; but no modern Hamilton, has entered the kitchen to record and illustrate the origin, improvement, modifications and various uses of the cauldron. This vessel, like a despised but necessary attendant, has been the inseparable companion of man in his progress from barbarism to refinement, and has administered to his necessities at every stage: yet it has ever been disregarded, while literary cuisiniers have expatiated in numerous treatises on the virtues of meats prepared in it. Endless are the essays on sauces, but the history of the more useful sauce-pan is yet to be written. An account of this vessel and of the cauldron, would place in a very novel and instructive light, the domestic manners of the world; and an examination of the various modes of heating the latter, would bring to view many excellent devices for economizing fuel. VASES used by oriental women to convey water from public wells and fountains for domestic purposes, are often referred to, by sacred and profane authors. Figure No. 5, represents a female of Hindostan, bearing See the ancient Peruvian furnace in Frezier's Voyage to the South Seas, by which three cauldrons were heated by a very small pot of lama's dung, or of the plant icho; which were used for want of other fuel. 22 22 Water Pots. [Book I. one, the shape of which, closely resembles the have them of copper or brass, as well as of earthenware, but they are all shaped alike. This is not a little singular, because a deviation from a globular to a cylindrical form, would enable their mechanics to make those of metal at much less expense. They therefore adhere to the pri mitive model, because of its superiority over others, or from that adhesion to ancient customs which forms so prominent a feature in Asiatic character. In the early ages it was the universal custom for young women to draw water. The daughters of princes and chief men, were not exempt from it. Isis and Osiris are sometimes represented with water vessels on their heads. There are several interesting examples in the Old Testament. Homer, as might be expected, frequently introduces females thus occupied. When Nestor entertained Telemachus, he bade No. 5. The handmaids for the feast prepare, The seats to range, the fragrant wood to bring, And limpid waters from the living spring. Odys. iii, 544. Pope. Soon from the fount, with each a brimming urn, (Eumæus in their train) the maids return. Ib. xx, 193 and 202, Fountains and wells became the ordinary places of assembly for young people-especially, "at the time of the evening, the time that women go out to draw water." Gen. xxiv, 11. Several of the Patriarchs first beheld their future wives on these occasions; and were doubtless as much captivated by their industry and benevolent dispositions in relieving the wants of strangers and travelers, as by their personal charms. It was Beside a chrystal spring that Ulysses met the daughter of Antiphates. Travelers have often noticed the singular tact with which Asiatic women balance several of these water pots on their heads without once touching them with their hands. "The finest dames of the Gentoos disdained not to carry water on their heads, with sometimes two or three earthen pots over one another, for household service; the like do all the women of the Gentiles." Fryer's Trav. 117. At one of their religious festivals, Hindoo women, "have a custom of dancing with several pots of water on their heads, placed one above another." Sonnerat, i, 150. A very pleasing instance of female dexterity in carrying water, is recorded by Herodotus, v, 12. As Darius, king of Persia, was sitting publicly in one of the streets of Sardis, he observed a young woman of great elegance and beauty, bearing a vessel on her head, leading a horse by a bridle fastened round her arm, and at the same time spinning some thread. Darius viewed her as she passed, with attentive curiosity, observing that her employments were not those of a Persian, Lydian, nor indeed of any Asiatic female; prompted by what he had seen, he sent some of his attendants to observe what she did with the horse. They accordingly followed her-When she came to the river, she gave the horse some water Chap. 3.] Canopus. 23 and then filled her pitcher: having done this, she returned by the way she came, with the pitcher of water on her head, the horse fastened by a bridle to her arm, and as before, employed in spinning. Industrious labor is an ornament to every young woman-indeed neither the symmetry of her person, nor the vigor of her mind, can be perfectly developed without it. The fine forms and glowing health of the women of old, were chiefly owing to their temperate modes of living, their industrious habits, and the exercise they took in the open air. No. 6. A Canopus. A circumstance recorded in the history of the Egyptians, accounts for the peculiar form of one of their favorite vessels, the Canopus; the annexed figure of which, is taken from the 'History of the ancient people of Italy,' plate 27. It was named after one of their deities, who became famous on account of a victory which he obtained over the Chaldean deity, FIRE;-the story of which exhibits no small degree of ingenuity in a priest, and it affords a fair specimen of the miracles by which people were deluded in remote times. The Chaldeans boasted, as they justly might, of the unlimited power of their god, and they carried him about to combat with those of other provinces, all which he easily overcame and destroyed, for none of their images were able to resist the force of fire !—At length a shrewd priest of Canopus, devised this artifice and challenged the Chaldeans to a trial. He took an earthen jar, in the bottom and sides of which he drilled a great number of small holes ;-these he stopt up with wax, and then filled the jar with water: he secured the head of an old image upon it, and having painted and sufficiently disguised it, brought it forth as the god Canopus! In the conflict with the Chaldean Deity the wax was soon melted by the latter, when the water rushed out of the holes, and quickly extinguished the flames. Univ. Hist. i, 206. In memory of this victory, vessels resembling the figure of the god used on this occasion became common. Dr. Shaw gives the figure of one which he brought with him from Egypt. Trav. 425. See Montfaucon, tom. ii, liv. i, cap. 18. A figure of one throwing out water from numerous holes on every side is also given. Tom. ii, liv. iii. A somewhat similar case of superstition in the middle ages, is quoted by Bayle from Baronius; being a trial of the virtue in the bones of two saints; or rather a contest of priestly skill. St. Martin's relics being carried over all France came to Auxerre, and were deposited in the church of St. Germain, where they wrought several miracles. The priests of the latter considered him as great a saint as the former; they therefore demanded one half of the receipts," which were considerable;" but Martin's priests contended that it was his relics that performed all the miracles, and therefore all the gifts belonged to them. To prove this, they proposed that a sick person should be put between the shrines of the saints, to ascertain which performed the cure. They therefore laid a leper between them, and he was healed on that side which was next to St. Martin's bones, and not on the other! the sick man then very naturally turned his other side, and was instantly healed on that also! Cardinal Baronius in commenting on this result, seriously observes, that St. Germain was as great a saint as St. Martin, but that as the latter had done him the favor of a visit, he suspended the influence he had with God, to do his guest the greatest honor! The custom of having patron saints or gods was universal among the ancient heathen; and the same system was carried by half pagan christians of the dark ages to an incredible 24 Wells. [Book I. extent. Ecclesiastics peddled the country, like itinerant jugglers, with sacks of bones and other relics from the charnel house-the pretended virtues of which, they sold to the deluded multitude as in the above instance. ON WELLS-Water one of the first objects of ancient husbandmen-Lot-Wells before the deluge— Digging them through rock subsequent to the use of metals-Art of digging them carried to great perfection by the Asiatics-Modern methods of making them in loose soils derived from the East-Wells often the nuclei of cities-Private wells common of old-Public wells infested by Banditti-Wells numerous in Greece--Introduced there by Danaus-Facts connected with them in the mythologic agesPersian ambassadors to Athens and Lacedemon thrown into wells-Phenician, Carthagenian and Roman wells extant-Cæsar and Pompey's knowledge of making wells enabled them to conquer-City of Pompeii discovered by digging a well-Wells in China, Persia, Palestine, India, and Turkey-Cisterns of Solomon-Sufferings of travelers from thirst-Affecting account from Leo Africanus-Mr. Bruce in Abyssinia-Dr. Ryers in Gombroon-Hindoos praying for water-Caravan of 2000 persons and 1800 camels perished in the African desert-Crusaders. 66 As the human family multiplied, its members necessarily kept extending themselves more and more from their first abode; and in searching for suitable locations the prospect of obtaining water would necessarily exert a controlling influence in their decisions. An example of this, in later times, is given by Moses in the case of Abraham and Lot. The land was too much crowded by their families and flocks, so that they could not dwell together,' ," and when they had concluded to separate, Lot selected the plain of Jordan, because "it was well watered every where." Gen. xiii, 10. In the figurative language of the East, "Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan;" in plain English, he went and carefully examined it. When thus extending themselves, the early inhabitants of the world, would frequently meet with locations every way adapted to their wants with the single exception of water; circumstances, which necessarily must have excited their ingenuity in devising means to obtain it. At what period of mans' history he first had recourse to wells, we have no account; nor of the circumstances which led him to penetrate the earth, in search of water. Wells, we have no doubt, are of antediluvian origin, and the knowledge of them, like that of the primitive arts, has been preserved by uninterrupted use from the period of their first discovery. At first, they were probably nothing more than shallow cavities dug in moist places; and their depth occasionally increased, in order to contain the surface water that might drain into them within certain intervals of time; a mode of obtaining it still practised among barbarous people. The wells of Latakoo, described by Mr. Campbell, in his "Travels in South Africa," were of this description. They were but two feet deep and were emptied every morning. The people of New Holland, the most wretched and ignorant of our species, had similar excavations, at which Dampier, when on the coast in 1688, obtained a supply for his ships. He says, "we filled our barrels with water at wells which had been dug by the natives." Burney's Voy, iv, 260. Wells are also connected with the superstitions of the New Zealanders; and the Radack Islanders, when discovered by Kotzebue, had pits or square wells, which they had Chap. 4.] Public Wells. 25 25 dug for water. Kotzebue's Voy. ii, 28, 66, and iii, 145, 223. The fresh water which Columbus found in the huts belonging to the Indians of Cuba, was probably obtained from similar wells; but which the Spaniards, who found none but salt water, were unable to discover. Personal Nar. of Colum. 67. Boston, 1827. These simple excavations would naturally be multiplied and their dimensions enlarged as far as the limited means of man, in the early ages, would permit, and his increasing wants require. But when the discovery of the metals took place, (in the seventh generation from the first pair, according to both Moses and Sanchoniathon,) the depth of wells would no longer be arrested by rocks, nor their construction limited to locations where these did not occur. From very ancient wells which still remain, it is certain, that at a time long anterior to the commencement of history, the knowledge of procuring water by means of them, was well understood, perhaps, equally so as at present. On this supposition only, can we reconcile the selection of locations for them composed wholly of rock. Some of the oldest wells known are dug entirely through that material, and to a prodigious depth. Man's ingenuity was, perhaps, first exercised in procuring water; and it is not improbable, that the art of constructing wells was more rapidly carried to perfection than any other. The physical character of central Asia, its climate, universal deficiency of water, its swarms of inhabitants, and their pastoral, and agricultural pursuits, would necessarily contribute to this result. The Abbe Fleury, in his "Manners of the Ancient Israelites," justly observes, "their numerous herds of cattle necessarily induced them to set a very high value on their wells and cisterns; and more especially as they occupied a country where there was no river but Jordan, and where rain seldom fell." Chap. iii. In no other part of the world, even in modern times, has more science been evinced, or mechanical skill displayed in penetrating the earth, than is exhibited in some of the ancient wells of the east; and it is to their authors, that we are indebted for the only known method of sinking wells of great depth, through loose soils and quicksands, viz: by first constructing a curb, (of stone, brick, &c.) which settles as the excavation is deepened, and thereby resists the pressure of the surrounding soil. Wells are mentioned by Moses, as in common use among the ancient Canaanites; some of which at that remote age adjoined roads, for the benefit of travelers and the public at large. Indeed, all people who have had recourse to wells, have consecrated some of them to the convenience of strangers and travelers. The first wells were probably all of this description. Most of those mentioned in history were certainly such. At one of these, Hagar rested and refreshed herself, when she fled from the ill treatment of Sarah. And it was "by the way" of this well, that Isaac was going when he first met with Rebecca. And we learn from Gen. xxv, 11, that he subsequently took up his abode near it; a custom by which wells frequently became nuclei of ancient cities. Jacob's well is an example, if really dug by him. When that patriarch and his family drank of its waters, few dwellings were near it; (Gen. xxiii, 19;) but, before the time of Alexander, these had so far increased, as with the ancient Shalem, to form the capital city of Samaria. And 600 years before Alexander's conquest of Judea, Jeroboam when he governed the ten tribes had a palace in the vicinity of this well. Josephus, Antiq. viii, 3. "Tadmor in the wilderness," or Palmyra, one of the most splendid cities of the old world, was built by Solomon (2 Chron. viii, 4,) in the Syrian desert, and its location determined according to Josephus, (Antiq. viii, 6,) “because at that |