aspired to the throne, when their mirth was so suddenly arrested by the shouts of joy in the city proclaiming Solomon to be king. Perhaps it may be from the prominent part which Joab acted in that memorable scene that the well is called by the Arabs to this day, "the well of Job," or Joab.-See Narrative, &c. pp. 152, 153.

THE UPPER POOL.

SCRIPTURE NOTICES.

"THEN said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, . . . at the end of the conduit of the Upper Pool, in the highway of the fuller's field." . . . -Isaiah

vii. 3.

"And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, unto king Hezekiah, with a great army: and he stood by the conduit of the Upper Pool, in the highway of the fuller's field."-Isaiah xxxvi. 2. (2 Kings xviii. 17.)

"This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David."-2 Chronicles xxxii. 30.

LOWER POOL.

SCRIPTURE NOTICE.

"YE have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool."—Isaiah xxii. 9.

"The main dependence of Jerusalem for water at the present day is on its cisterns; and this has probably always been the case. . . . The immense cisterns now and anciently existing within the area of the temple, would, of themselves, in case of a siege, furnish a tolerable

supply; and are supplied partly from rain-water, and partly by the aqueduct. But in addition to these, almost every private house in Jerusalem, of any size, is understood to have at least one or more cisterns, excavated in the soft limestone rock on which the city is built. The house in which we resided had no less than four cisterns one of immense size. The cisterns have usually merely a round opening at the top, sometimes built up with stone-work alone, and furnished with a curb and a wheel for the bucket ;

so that they have externally much the appearance of an ordinary well. The water is conducted into them from the roofs of the houses during the rainy season; and, with proper care, remains pure and sweet during the whole summer and autumn. In this manner most of the larger houses and the public buildings are sup

plied. . . . Most of these cisterns have undoubtedly come down from ancient times; and their immense extent furnishes a full solution of the question as to the supply of water for the city. Under the disadvantages of its position in this respect, Jerusalem must necessarily have always been dependent upon its cisterns; and a city which thus annually laid in its supply for seven or eight months, could never be overtaken by a want of water during a siege.

"Nor is this a trait peculiar to the holy city; for the case is the same throughout all the hill country of Judah and Benjamin. Fountains and streams are few, as compared with Europe and America; and the inhabitants, therefore, collect water during the rainy season in tanks and cisterns in the cities, in the fields, and along the high roads, for the sustenance of themselves and of their flocks and herds, and for the comfort of the passing traveller. Many, if not the most of these, are obviously antique; and they exist not unfrequently along the ancient roads which are now deserted. Thus on the long forgotten way from Jericho to Bethel, "broken cisterns" of high antiquity are found at regular intervals. That Jerusalem was thus actually supplied of old with water, is apparent also from the numerous remains of ancient cisterns still existing in the tract north of the city, which was once enclosed within the walls. A few wells are occasionally found, both in and around the city; but they are either dry or the water is low and bad. . . . The reason why so few wells exist, is doubtless to be referred to the small quantity and bad quality of the water thus obtained.

But

although the cisterns of Jerusalem thus afford apparently an abundant supply, yet, as a matter of convenience and luxury, water is brought during the summer in considerable quantity from fountains at a distance from the city. The principal of these is "Ain Yalo in Wady el-Werd," several miles S. W. of Jerusalem. The water is transported in skins, on the backs

F