THE LATE FLOODS IN AUSTRALIA.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IX, Issue 483, 10 June 1867, Page 3

THE LATE FLOODS IN AUSTRALIA.

R'hb sun has once again assumed the ■ascendency, the clouds that obscured ■his life-giving beams have discharged ■iheir mission, and the spirit within us Hises with the mercury in the baroHmetric tube. So much are we the r creatures of the hour that from the depths of despondency we are apt to i leap to the pinnacles of hope, and are L as forgetful aud careless of the past as I the Neapolitan peasauts, who, though ■they hear the warning voice of VesuKvius, aud know that the overwhelming Pfiood of lava will pour forth, as it has r agan and again poured forth to the doj structiun of their forefathers, still creep I up its sides, aud snatch a perilous I subsistence from the very jaws of death. I Before the casualties occasioned by the Llate floods are forgotten—before the ■bridences of the destruction of life or Broperty are hidden from our eyes—it Bill not be amiss to give them a pasf «ing word. I It requires more philosophy than ft most people are possessed of to endure ■a fortnight’s rain without visible signs Hpf impatience. Even after the long Bftontiuuanca ol an obstinate drought, Bn day’s rain is found to be quite sufiiHient for most tempers. The tendency Hp a protracted gusty downpour is to Wepress the spirits. Wo suffer iu our H'ersons or estates ; and when we are Kio.t personal sufferers, we suffer by with those who are. From

I the highest to the lowest, all classes feel the pressure of the cloud-blanket. Those who are not absolutely exposed to the vicissitudes of weather find occasion to grumble because their amusements aro interfered with. The money market is at a standstill. The frostbite is not a greater cheek to the budding of spring than the rainy day to the budding of speculation; and he who launches a company prays as fervently for fine weather as he who meditates a fcuratner holiday. The course of trade, too, is impeded. The ships lie idly beside the quay, and the shopkeepers f watches in vain for his customer, and wonder how his acceptances will be met should the goods for which they were given remain unsold. Every way, to a city population, a rainfall like that which has been experienced must prove a serious disturbance. A days rain in London ij said to send 60,000 people supperless to bed. Though the discomfort and misery produced here is less in extent, it is probably similar in degree ; it must at any rate be very considerable where the great bulk ol the people win their bread by out-of-door pursuits. When it is taken into consideration that from the Bth day of April to the close of the month there w r ere only five days on which no rain fell, it is difficult to realise the interruption to the ordinary affairs of life that must have occurred. We fear that the loss of supper will scarcely express the distress of that large class of workpeople who are pilu kO tiva uom hand to mouth.”

N«* has therural population been less sensible of the disastrous effects of a protracted rainiaii. iho most Gishessing reports have reached us from townships aud villages scattered along all valleys subject to flooding. Hundreds of bosoms have been tilled with alarm as the copious showers, gravitating to the river, have raised its waters foot by foot; hundreds of bosoms have been racked with anguish as these waters have gradually overspread the fertile field and buried the smiling crop, |aud invaded the homestead and scattered the flock and the herd ; nnd destroyed the roads, aud tofu away tU6 bridges. It is hard, indeed, to gaze upon the work of years thus undone in a few days.

From the records of the Government Astronomer we ascertain that during the mouth of April the rain gauge registered a fall of no less than 17| inches. This, as was shown in a notice of the subject contained in yesterday’s issue of this journal is unusual Since 1861 there has I ecu nothing like it. In April, 1862, lj inch rain fall only was registered ; April, 1863 6j inches; in April 1864, inches ; in April 1865, 2| inches: in April 1866, there was but 1 inch of rain fell. In April, 1860, the rainfall was 20 inches; in April, 1861, it reached to inches; but these, like the present, were times of flood and disaster. This downfall would have been less injurious had it been more evenly distributed, but when it comes with such copiousness as it did during twelve hours of the 11th and 12th days of last month, mischief must inevitably occur unless careful provision is made to deal with torrent-water which ensues. In that short space of rime no less than five inches of rain fell and the Hunter and Hawkesbury Rivers rose several feet. Thus the former during the continuance of the rain has risen 22 feet, and flooded all the low lands about Maitland. The Paterson also broke through its banks, inundated farms, and swept away large quantities of stored produce. The Williams Paver overbore its bounds, and flooded the town and suburbs of Duagog. Thousands of tons of potatoes, and extensive areas of growing maize, lucerne and other crops have been destroyed. The Meruya district has suffered heavily. At a place Kiora “ whole fields were carried away—the resistless water tearing up the soil in huge lumps, and leaving vast chasms in its course. The whole district was one scene of confusion and excitement; people were running about in all directions striving to save property or obtain shelter for themselves. The rivers were covered with floating timber, articles of furniture, bales of hay, and occasionally with drowning horses and cattle.” Such is the scene upon which we are called to look; such the sufferings and losses with it is our painful pleasure to sympathise.

Looked at apart from these sad occurrences how beautiful, how' admirable is the provision thus made for the sustentation of animal and vegetable life. Behold the atmosphere as a vast apparatus, lifting from the tropical seas by evaporation sufficient water each year to cover this laud to a depth of forty or forty-five inches, this body of vapor, thus raised by an engine that never breaks down, never fails, is conducted to these thirsting lands, and by another arrangement of the machinery is dropped here; the greater part being returned by means of the river system to the sea, while the remainder, in its passage upwards by the process ol evaporation, moistens and genialises the air, which would ba fatal to life, were it not thus tempered. Thus autumn is the period of moist sea winds and deluge. The atmosphere is the sponge which, filled in warmer latitudes, is born hither by the monsoon, and constrained to yield its fertilising burden when pressed, as it were, bv the hand of the temperature, and further gives out that amount of heat which was rendered latent during the conversion of water into vapor. Let us, moreover, consider that every inch of water thus deposited represents one tun per acre, and that each tun of water represents, in solid pounds and ounces, the amount of aliment required to supply the wants of animal and vegetable life delivered free of cost, as well as the conditions under which life is 1 « n

It was once sail by Lord PalmmtM that dirt is soil in the wrong place; may it not also be said that flood water is water ia the wrong place ? It is clear that we want the water, that we cannot carry on the affairs of life—nay, cannot live—without the water, and that our present difficulty arises ....hr IW.m f-,r-r that ttv" is -“v ilJ “ 1 - !i ~ ia -- '- U!? not evenly distributed throughout the year. Neither are the cereals on which we subsist equally distributed. The .'iliiiighty lias given something tor us to do in the matter. Our prudence and foresight are employed to store up the surplus of one season for the exigencies of another, and we cannot but think that the same foresight which we manifest in turning to our uses one class of God’s gifts, may, with advantage, be employed by us in dealing with others. If men, tempted by their richness, and convenience, will settle upon alluvial lands which lie along the courses of rivers liable to be flooded, they should take the necessary precautions to draw aside and store the surplus water which else will destroy the fruits of their labor, and set it free to nourish the parched soil when the win dows of heaven are closed. Flood and drought stand to each other very nearly in the relation of cause and effect—the natural sequel to both is famine. But if one be used to temper the other, the third will be as unknown a quantity in the calculation as it has become in most civilised countries.