From the dipping and trawling of so many utensils of different kinds into the tanks, and the constant washing of the water against the sides of the embankments, it became very dirty and disagreeable. To obviate this, pumps were fixed in the tanks, large wooden troughs being added to them to convey the water to the recipients, and sentries being posted over the reservoirs to compel all parties to take the water from the approved contrivances instead of resorting to the objectionable mode which had been attended with so much discomfort. Where springs could not be found in sufficient number, wells were sunk to afford water for the troops. Some of these answered excellently, and yielded a good supply. In several instances the men were interrupted in the service by the presence of moving quicksand, which prevented them digging to the depth they otherwise would have done. These wells, nevertheless, were ultimately made available for use. To keep the ground from being undermined by the sand, rough sap rollers were at first constructed and sunk, but as these were found inadequate to meet the difficulty, on account of the sand oozing through the interstices of the brushwood, some barrels were securely fixed at the bottom, which at once offered an effectual resistance to any encroachment, and secured a serviceable quantity of good clean water. Into several of the wells two or three bushels of pebbles and shells were thrown to purify the water in its infiltration. Wells cased or lined with fir poles—an expedient first resorted to—were found not to answer, as the water collected in them tasted disagreeably of an impregnation of turpentine. Many failures in seeking for water occurred. Three or four in elevated parts of the field were sunk through a stratum of sand and clay to the depth of thirty-five feet without success. Two artesian wells were also bored late in July, one to a depth of sixty feet and the other to thirty-five feet, without any beneficial result. Tradition or experience was of little avail in selecting places to sink the wells with anything like certainty of finding water. Nor were any men present who possessed the occult and mysterious faculty of using the divining rod to discover it. Several ingenious suggestions were made and acted on with no better result. All depended upon chance; and to make up for the deficiency from this source, greater attention was paid to gathering the nests of springs, and opening up courses and channels for their unfettered issue into reservoirs. Commonly, depths beyond thirty feet were obtained without the use of the windlass, or the application of materials to support the sides. Many of the sappers in these experiments turned out expert well-diggers, and executed the heavy duty with energy and coolness.