Four of these bendts were visited and examined, but there are several others which we did not see. A description of one of the largest will give an idea of the manner in which

they are constructed. " A solid wall of marble masonry, eighty feet wide, and supported by two largs buttresses, rises to the height of a hundred arid thirty feet from the bottom of the valley, It is four hundred feet long, and the top is covered with large marble slabs of dazzling

42 PREL1MINARYESSAY.

brilliancy. On the side next the reservoir, a substantial marble balustrade, three feet in height, gives a finish to this Cyclopean undertaking. A tall marble tablet indicates the

date of its erection, or more probably of its repair or reconstruction. From the date, 1211, it appears to have been built about forty-six years ago. It is called the Validay Bendt, and is said to have been built by the mother of the reigning sultan. It is furnished with a waste gate, and, at a short distance below, the water from the reservoir is carried across a ravine by a short aqueduct. About two miles from this is another bendt, erected in

1163, which corresponds to the year 1749. This is also a magnificent work, although inferior in size to the preceding. They both supply the aqueduct of Batchikeui, which, as has already been stated, furnishes the suburbs of Pera and Galata with water. Beyond Belgrade are other reservoirs which will be elsewhere noticed. These supply Constantinople proper, with water. " In order to a clear idea of the direction of these various convey hydraulic works, it may be advisable to follow each singly. Beyond Belgrade is a large bendt, which sends its waters into a basin already partially supplied from another reservoir.