A man raising water with a water-wheel during a famine in India. Wood engraving after J. Calvert, 1877.

"The Indian famine. The Mansion House Fund, to relieve a portion of the vast and dire suffering that prevails in Madras and Southern India, from the want of food caused by a general failure of the grain crops in two or three successive years, has nearly reached the amount of a quarter of a million sterling; and the sum of £200,000 has been sent to Madras for that benevolent purpose. This lamentable occurrence has reminded many persons acquainted with India of the insufficient means of artificial irrigation, by canals, tanks, and wells, and by wheels for raising and diffusing water, in some of the districts where the crops have failed, and the people are now most severely distressed from the effects of drought. We learn that these wheels can be made for about six to ten rupees each, and the well may be sunk 60ft. for as many shillings, which will supply water to irrigate enough land to provide for twenty people. The larger wheels, driven by oxen, will cover several acres with water, producing large crops of grain three times a year, and in some cases four times a year. In the Punjaub the natives make the earthen pots, the straw ropes, and the wheels of hard wood, and put up the whole thing without as much iron as one nail. The well is lined with a thick rope of straw, pinned together with double-pointed pegs of bamboo, and sinks down as the sand is dug up below it. This lasts for a year, if necessary, when a brick lining can be put inside; this, however, is seldom done to wells less than 6 ft. diameter. Our Illustration is from a sketch by Mr. John Calvert, an old resident in India, and author of "The Kula Valley."—Illustrated London news, loc. cit.