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Having mentioned the public fountains, (with which this city abounds,) it may not be amiss to describe them. There being but few springs in the town, water is conveyed by means of a noble brick aqueduct (communicating with others,) from a distance of several miles through the interior, over the summits of many high hills, and being distributed throughout the city, it supplies a fountain in most of the principal streets. These fountains are handsomely constructed of stone, having a large cistern into which the purest water is constantly running from the beaks of several ducks, geese, or other birds, which are of cast metal, and well executed. As the trade of water-carrying furnishes employment for many hundreds of negro women, and their continual resort to the fountains would occasion much confusion and quarrelling, a soldier is placed in attendance to preserve order, and the women seat themselves in a row on a long bench fixed on purpose, where they are obliged to wait for their turn to fill. It is a curious and interesting sight to observe these harmless and industrious creatures conversing with each other, and smoking their pipes, while they patiently await the sentinel's intimation to approach. The incessant prattle of their tongues may be heard by a passenger long before he reaches the spot, and adds to the novelty of the scene.
The negroes I saw here, the majority of
