Can we form any mental picture of Nine-Spouts? Fortunately vase-paintings come to our aid. It is not a little remarkable that in the decoration of black-figured water-vases (hydriae) of the 6th century B.C., there appears a sudden fashion in fountain-houses. Of hydriae so decorated the British Museum contains no less than ten. One of these[276] is reproduced in Fig. 41. The Fountain-House depicted is of the usual shape, a tetrastyle Doric portico. The architectural details are very clear, the triglyphs and guttae standing out in white. In actual architecture they would both be painted blue. Four maidens are water-drawing. Two of them are hanging up wreaths. Over three of them their names are inscribed Iope, Rhodopis, Kleo. But what at once arrests our attention is the arrangement of the water-spouts. Facing us are three, a lion’s head and two horsemen, to either side of these is a lion’s head spout; that makes not a Nine-Spouts but a Five-Spouts. But, drawn in perspective as they must be, do not the side spouts each represent three? It is at least probable that we have an arrangement like that restored in Fig. 38, three spouts facing, and three at each side. Lion-spouts are of course frequent in Fountain-Houses. The horsemen of our vase are unique; they give the Fountain-House a dashing despotic air. [Illustration: FIG. 42.] We know then just what sort of architectural fragments, we might expect to find; we can imagine a fragment that would be conclusive. A ‘Doric’ portico might belong to more than one kind of building, a lion’s head spout could belong only to a Fountain-House. No lion’s head has been found, but instead, what is as good for our purpose, _a stone hollowed out for the reception of a lions head_. This stone is shown in Fig. 42. Not only is the space for the lion’s head evident, but behind is clearly visible the hole for the pipe. The block is of blue calcareous stone such as is found both on the Acropolis and the Pnyx. Of exactly the same limestone is a small remnant of a polygonal wall from the South boundary of the precinct of the Fountain-House. The plan in Fig. 38 makes the general disposition of the place of the Enneakrounos clear, the large reservoir behind (Haupt-Bassin), immediately in front of it the draw-well (Schoepf-brunnen), and to the right of the reservoir, and of course equally fed by it, Nine-Spouts (Lauf-brunnen). In front a great open space. What is matter for conjecture is the exact site and size of Nine-Spouts. A clear view of the relation of Nine-Spouts to Fair-Fount is given in the sectional restoration[277] in Fig. 43. There we see the vaulted rock chamber Y, the actual well, Kallirrhoë, to which it led, and in front of it, the modern road intervening, Nine-Spouts or Enneakrounos itself. In front of that again the open space, possibly once enclosed, was the heart and centre of the agora. [Illustration: FIG. 43.] * * * * *