4
aqueduct ; such is not in my opinion the case. If it is supplied from either aque-
duct, I believe it will be found that the water comes from that brought in from
the Begam Talao.
13. The two principal wells in the town are the Chand Bavri, called
after Chandabai, which is situated below a tomb close to a dharamsala. It is
a large tank which is approached by steps. The water, which I am informed is
liked by the natives, though I have not seen a chemical analysis of it, is liable
to contamination from several sources. In my opinion the surroundings of the
well should be carefully conserved, and the steps leading into it should be closed,
and the water be drawn up by means of iron buckets and iron chains attached
to windlasses. The other large well is the Taj Bavri, which is near "The Two
Sisters," but the water in it is said to be not good, though it is drunk on market
days.
14. There are besides said to be 453 wells in the town, but the principal
water-supply in the days when the city was teeming with a population, if tradi-
tion is to be believed, exceeding that of Bombay, was brought into it by the
Torweh aqueduct, which is said to have been constructed by Afzul Khan.
15. I visited the head-works at the source of this water-supply, and the
following is a brief though unprofessional description of them. The old town of
Torweh is situated four miles to the west of Bijápur, and was the place chosen
by Ibrahim Adil Shah II., when he deserted Bijápur in compliance with the
suggestion of his astrologers in 1604. The ruins and debris of houses extending
from Bijápur to Torweh can still be traced, and the former town now dwindled
into a village is situated on the Shendi nullah, which is a tributary of the Bhima
river, and which has its origin about a mile to the south-west of Torweh. On
walking along its bed a running stream is met, on the banks of which the com-
mencement of the line of air-shafts which led from the head-works into Bijápur
is seen. Water was found in the first air-shaft which is known by the name of the
Bhut Bavri, and behind this an old masonry dam is standing, which extended
across the bed of the nullah, and which formed a saturating tank, which is now
silted up. The gathering ground is entirely uninhabited, and consists of kunkur
or the concretionary carbonate of lime which is here interstratified with moorum.
16. Many springs are found below the surface, and the water-supply must
have been, and is, one of the finest in India. It is much to be wished that this
water source could be again utilized, but it is feared that the line of aqueduct is
very much out of repair. From a very interesting letter to my address from
Mr. Umaji Lingoji, who at my suggestion went down and examined some of the
air-shafts nearer Bijápur, I am sorry to learn that those examined were found to
be in such a state of disrepair, that it is thought the necessary expenditure would
prevent this aqueduct from being again used. The water channels are in places
of great depth, as the sill of one was found to be 65½ feet below the surface of
the ground, but it would seem desirable that a regular survey of this aqueduct
and that from the Begam Talao should be made by an Engineer, because, if
it were found to be financially possible to restore either, preference should be
given to the Torweh one as yielding a purer and more plentiful supply, and
which would prove of inestimable advantage, not only in this respect, but by
enabling the numerous fountains all through the town again to exert their
cooling influences on the atmosphere.
17. In conclusion, I would express my opinion as to the desirability of
planting trees in the neighbourhood of the buildings to be converted, as trees
will not only absorb moisture from the ground but carbonic acid from the air.
I have the honour to be, &c.,
T. G. HEWLETT,
Acting Sanitary Commissioner.