cornstalks is often placed to protect them from the cold north wind.
The water-wheels, or "sakia," as they are called, are of two kinds,
and both ingenious. Each consists of a large wheel placed
horizontally, which is turned by one or more bullocks; the spokes of
this wheel project as cogs, so as to turn another wheel placed below
it at right angles. When used in the fields, the rim of this second
wheel is hollow and divided into segments, each with a mouth or
opening. As the wheel revolves its lower rim is submerged in the well,
filling its segments with water, which, as they reach the top, empty
their contents sideways into a trough, which carries the water to the
little "genena," or watercourse, which supplies the fields. Those used
on the river-bank, however, are too far from the water for such a
wheel to be of use, so in place of the hollow rim the second wheel
also has cogs, on which revolves an endless chain of rope to which
earthen pots are attached, and whose length may be altered to suit the
varying levels of the river. Some of these "sakias" are very pretty,
as they are nearly always shaded by trees of some kind as a protection
to the oxen who work them.

[Footnote 5: "A gift."]

[Illustration: A WATERING-PLACE.]

One of the prettiest incidents of all, however, is the village
watering-place, where morning and evening the women and children of
the town congregate to fill their water-pots, wash their clothing or
utensils, and enjoy a chat. It is pretty to watch them as they come
and go; often desperately poor, they wear their ragged, dust-soiled
clothing with a queenly grace, for their lifelong habit of carrying
burdens upon their heads, and their freedom from confining garments,