and its depth below the level of the ground 35 feet. This vast reservoir is composed of gravel and cement, which form a wall of enormous thickness, and as hard and durable as rock. A part of this wall projects over the water in the form of a half arch. The water, instead of being on a level with the surrounding country, rises up to the brink of the cistern, and that with such force and abundance, that after issuing from an outlet which has been broken in the western side, it forms a rivulet which turns several mills on its passage to the sea. The ancient outlet now stopped up was on the east side over an aqueduct, which connected with two smaller cisterns, one of which is 20, and the other 12 yards square. After receiving their contributions into its ample channel, the aqueduct turned toward the N. E., to a small rocky eminence, on which is the tomb of an Arab Santon, and where in ancient times stood the citadel of old Tyre. The ruins of the magnificent arches of this aqueduct can be seen at a considerable distance, and the water oozing out at the breakages, or filtering through the cement, has encrusted them all over with stalactites. of a peculiar form, which at a little distance gives them the appearance of being clothed with some gigantic foliage. HIRAM'S WELL. Near the termination of this ancient aqueduct in the city there is a ruined tower over a well from which the principal supply of water is now obtained. This tower is on the sandy isthmus, consequently the water, which is pure and good, must come from the old aqueduct, although at this place it must be many feet below the earth and rubbish, and this is further strengthened by the fact of the water becoming troub led in the month of September, and of a reddish color, simultaneously with that of the fountains at Ras-el-Ain. Tradition claims that this well and tower were built by Solomon, the son of David. Morning and evening, long files of women with their ancient looking water jars may be seen going to and coming from this well with the day's supply of its sweet water. The traveler Sandys, writing in 1610, says of Tyre, "This once famous Tyre is now no other than a heap of ruins; yet have they a reverent respect: and do instruct the pensive beholder with their exemplary frailty." In alluding to its fountains he says, "We passed certain cisterns some miles and better distant from the city; which are called Solomon's by the Christians of this country, I know not why, unless these are they which he mentions in the Canticles. Square they are and large; replenished with living water, which was in time past conveyed by aqueducts into the orchards." THE FAMOUS TYRIAN PURPLE DYE. This was extracted from shells, which in former times were thrown up in great quantities along the sea shore, in July and August. These shells are now very scarce, still some are occasionally found in midsummer;and at this period is celebrated the feast of Sheikh Marshook, whose tomb stands on a rocky eminence. At this time the children collect these shells, which, as soon as they are withdrawn from the water, emit a slimy matter of a pale violet color; with this they draw re gular stripes on white cloths, then add a little soda and lemon juice, when the linen becomes striped with the brightest colors. At this feast every child carries one of these variegated banners on the end of a stick. A very interesting discovery in connection with this dye was made some years since. There was found a number of round cavities cut in the solid limestone rock, varying in size from that of an ordinary iron pot to that of a large cauldron, the largest being seven feet in diameter by eight feet in depth. They were perfectly smooth on the inside, and most of them shaped exactly like a large pot of the present day; broad and flat at the bottom, and contracting towards the top. Some were found in clusters, others detached. Those in clusters were connected at the top by small channels cut in the stones. Nearly all of these pot-holes were filled with a breccia of shells; in other places where the pots were empty, this breccia lie in heaps beside the rock. These doubtless were the mortars or vats in which the purple dye was manufactured; and this breccia is the same described by the old authors, as that from which the color was extracted. These stone pots or vats might also have been used for dyeing cloth; as such pots, either cut in the rock or formed of baked clay, and sunk in the earth, are still found in many parts of the East, and may be seen in some of the back streets of Alexandria and Cairo, and such are used for indigo dyeing throughout Northern Africa. HIRAM'S TOMB. About six miles from the city of Tyre, among the |