Manner of
marking off
walte land.
C u lt iv a t io n
is eltablilhed
fey digging
and watering
the ground.
encîofîng it,
or fowing'it
with feed.
It mult not
be praftifed
on the borders
of land al-
ready cultivated^
A / f a c e is
appropriated
to weÜs dug.
before the elapfe of the period above mentioned, he becomes the proprietor
of them, as in this cafe he is the cultivator, and not the other.
It is here proper to obferve that wafte lands may be marked by other
modes befides fetting ftones, fuch as by furrounding them with the
branches of trees; by burning the underwood and thorns which may
be growing upon the lands; or by collefting them together and fcat-
tering them, mixed with a little earth, about the borders, without
carrying them to uniformly round as to form a continued boundary;
or, laftly, by digging a trench one or two yards in width.
I t is related, as an opinion of Mohammed, that if a perfon dig up
and water a piece o f wafte land, he is then the cultivator of it ;
whereas, if he dig it up or water it fingly, he is only held to have
fet a mark upon it.— In the fame manner, i f he dig a trench or ditch
without watering the land, it is confidered only as marking; whereas,
i f he moiften it with water, after digging a trench, it is cultivation.
If, moreover, a perfon raife an enclofure round the land fo high as to
be a dam to the water, he is held to have cultivated it j and fo like-
wife if he low feed in it.
I t is not permitted to cultivate a piece o f wafte land immediately
bordering upon lands that are in a flourilhing ftate; as it is requifite
that a fpace be left, for the ufe of the cattle of the other, proprietor*
and alfo for piling up his ftacks, whence fuch land does not come
under the defcription of wafte any more than a river or a highway;—
and accordingly, our doftors have faid, that it is not lawful for the
Imam to beftow on a perfon any article of indifpenfahle ufe to the
Mujfulmans, fuch as a falt-pit, or a well from which the people draw
water to drink.
W h o e v e r digs a well in, wafte land is entitled to a fpace or piece
of land * round it. If, therefore, the well be dug for the ufe of
* Arab. Harem', meaning, literall y,yrMbittd to others.
eamels,
camels, a fpace of forty yards is annexed to it.— This is related in the
traditions. Several of our doflcrs have conftrued the forty yards to
mean the aggregate fpace. T h e better opinion, however, is that
forty yards are annexed to each fide of the we ll; for as many lands are
o f a foft and humid foil, it might happen that if another perfon Ihould
dig a well at a lefs diftance from the firft than forty yards, the water
of the one might ooze through the earth and communicate with the
other. I f the well be dug with a view to drawing water from it by
means of camels or other animals * , in that cafe the fpace o f fixty
yards is annexed, according to the two difciples. Haneefa holds that
in this cafe likewife only forty yards are allowed.— T h e arguments of
the difciples upon this point are twofold.— F i r s t , a faying of the
prophet, “ The precinBs o f a fountain are fiv e hundred yards, o f a well
“ from which camels may drink fo rty , and o f a well from which water
“ is drawn fix ty yards."— S e c o n d l y , there is a necellity that a con-
fiderable fpace be annexed to a well of this nature, fince the camels
may be required to be led to a diftance from it* as the rope by which
the water is drawn up is often of long extent; but where wells are fo
made that the water may be taken out by the hand, it is not neceflary
that any great fpace be allotted on this account; and therefore a difference
Ihould certainly be made between the two forts of wells. Haneefa
argues from the tradition before cited, in which forty yards are
mentioned, without diftinguilhing 'between the two Ipecies of wells.
The objection, moreover, ftarted by the two difciples may be obviated
by making the camels revolve round the well with the rope, inftead of
driving them direftly from it.
Ip the well have a fountain in it, the lpace annexed to it is five
hundred yards ; becaufe of the tradition before quoted ; and alfo, be-
caufe a large fpace is here abfolutely requifite ; for as the fountain is
brought out to water the ground, one fpace is required through which
* See note in Vol. II. p. 327»
the
in wafte
lands; •