Читать книгу The High Mountains of Crete. The White Mountains, Psiloritis and Lassithi Mountains онлайн

56 страница из 113

Thanks to the specialist skills of those who made them, many very old well shafts and cisterns still function throughout Crete, despite earth tremors and the ravages of time. An old cistern may be topped with stone vaulting, or just a wooden log, blending so well into the surroundings that you may miss it as you pass by. This type is most often sited on small flat plains of alluvial soil (dolines), which provide a run-off for rain and snowmelt. Modern cisterns are of reinforced concrete with or without a cover (which may be locked), and the most recent are large concrete-aproned constructions, blasted into the hillsides. For clean water a concrete run-off, or an open cistern, should be fenced-off from animals. The Psiloritis and Lassithi ranges have more freshwater springs than the Lefka Ori, where man-made cisterns for collecting rainwater have been built to substitute.

Aravanes spring in autumn (Walk P8)

Drawing up water

Always carry 5m of lightweight nylon line and, ideally, a camping pan that doubles as a bucket. Remove your sunglasses or spectacles to a safe place (never on the ground – someone will step on them) and secure the line to your hand or foot before you drop the bucket (especially if you are using the shepherds’ bucket.) Some cisterns are very deep and it may be impossible to retrieve anything dropped in (a large fish hook, obtainable in coastal resorts, could be your only chance). Up-end the bucket and let it drop down square on, to hit the water face down. It should then collect water as it sinks. If it does not, try again. Shepherds have the better knack of raising water without dropping the bucket face down, but this takes practice. If you use the shepherds’ bucket, do not allow it to overfill unless you can raise this heavy weight easily – this is not the moment to wrench your back.