Lack of water, on the face of things, might be deemed a
considerable hardship. There are tracts in Africa where people have
been known to barter wives and children for a cupful of the liquid
element. Of the inhabitants of Nepenthe it must be said to their credit
that they endure their lot with equanimity, and even cheerfulness.
Their wine costs nothing. Why grumble at the inscrutable ways of
Providence? Why be thirsty, why be sober, when you can get as drunk as
a lord for the asking?
For the rest, there are indications to show that such was not the
original condition of affairs on the island. On the contrary, certain
legends still current among the country-folk lead one to suspect that
fountains once flowed on this arid rock. And more than legends.
Monsignor Perrelli, in his ANTIQUITIES OF NEPENTHE, has gone into the
subject with his usual thoroughness. The reader who takes the trouble
to consult that work will find, in the twenty-sixth chapter of the
third section dealing with the Natural Productions and Water-Supply of
the island, an enumeration of no less than twelve fountains still
flowing during the author's lifetime.
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