It would seem no stronger, in proportion, than sheets of pasteboard placed on edge, to support one end of the stairs of a modern built house, for it must be borne in mind, that the massive roof of the spiral passage next the well, has nothing but this film of rock to support it, or to prevent such portions from falling as are loosened by fissures,, or such as from changes in the direction of the strata, are not firmly united to the general mass. But this is not all thin and insufficient as it may seem, the ;

bold designer has pierced it through its whole extent with semicircular openings, to admit light from the well. " Opinions respecting the date of this well are exceedingly various. Pococke thought it was built by a vizier named Joseph, 800 years ago other authorities more ;

generally attribute it to Saladin, the intrepid defender of his country against the hordes of savages, who, under the name of Crusaders, spread rapine and carnage through his land. His name was Yussef (Joseph). " By the common people of Egypt, it has long been ascribed to the patriarch of that name, and then- traditions are often well founded. Van Sleb, who visited Egypt several times in the 17th century, says some of the people in his time thought it Avas digged by spirits ; and he adds, " I am almost inclined to believe it, for I cannot conceive how man can compass so wonderful a work." Some writers believe this well to have been the work of a more scientific people than any of the comparatively modern possessors of Egypt in other words, they think it the production of the same people that built the Pyramids, and the unrivalled monuments of Thebes, Dendarah, and Ebsamboul.