Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N. — a MemoirBiddulph, Elizabeth Philippa, Baroness
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Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N. — a Memoir
Biddulph, Elizabeth Philippa, Baroness
Hardwicke, Charles Philip Yorke, Earl of, 1799-1873
'Solomon's cisterns, which are situated about three miles from Tyre to
the south east, are of an octagonal form built of gravel and cement
that form a solid stone. The elevation of the largest above the level
is twenty-seven feet on the south side, and eighteen on the north; a
walk round on the top eight feet wide, a step below twenty-one feet
broad, a stream leaves it turning four mills. There are two smaller
ones turning two mills at a small distance to the northward of the
large one. Their original shape appears to have been square, but now
much disfigured. The large one is thirty-three yards deep, the people
believe it has no bottom and that the water is brought there by genii.
Where it comes from no one knows, but it is always full. I think these
cisterns originally supplied Tyre with water; I traced the remains of
an aqueduct from them nearly to the walls but better than half way
across the isthmus, so that I think they are of a later date than the
time of Solomon because the aqueduct could not be built over the
isthmus before the isthmus was made. They are on the whole the most
curious relics of antiquity I have seen, they must at least be 2300
years old and they are in no way injured, but the supply of water is
constant even in the wannest weather. The country for seven miles round
is a perfect level: I think the water must be brought by some
underground drain from the mountains in the distance to the eastward.
The story is that Solomon among the presents made to King Hiram for his
assistance in building the Temple built for him these cisterns, but
they are not mentioned in the Bible, and I think the story improbable
for reasons before mentioned, and that Solomon certainly had not such
good artificers as King Hiram himself.
'By the bye there are considerable remains of the old port, a mote, by
the ruins of which you can easily trace its extent.
'Haipha and St. Jean d'Acre, Mt. Carmel and the river Kishon "that
ancient river" became next the objects of my amusement. I bivouacked
one night on the banks of the river at Mt. Tabor and Carmel in sight.
At this time an alteration in the weather took place, the gales of wind
began to blow here and the coast consequently became exceedingly
dangerous. I thought it prudent to quit it and arrived in Alexandria in
fourteen days after leaving Haifa, having had a contrary gale nearly
the whole time.
'During my stay in Egypt I was four days in Cairo, eight days on the
Nile, two days at Sakkara and one day at Gizeh. Salt lent me his house
and his boat with twenty men, and I saw all that was to be seen.
Mehemet Ali gave me a Turk to attend me and I play the traveller here
for a few days; time for description I have none. You will be sorry I
have hurried over the latter part of this despatch but I assure you it
is unavoidable. The vessel that takes our letters to Malta I expect
will put herself in quarantine every hour.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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