DANGERS OF THE SEASON.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 425, 29 November 1856, Page 3

DANGERS OF THE SEASON.

FLOODS. From the Melbourne " Argos." It is the season, of. floods. It may seem singular to assert this when a mifd and comparatively dry winter seems rapidly giving place to an early summer; ;but it is .a fact notwithstanding, that at this season • of the year floods are more "frequent than at any otherUnder ordinary circumstances the ground is by this time, thoroughly saturated with moisture, [ and the rain which now falls has a "greater tendency to run upon the surface, than is the case with that'which descends upon^the thirstyearib. in the early portions oi\our rainy "season. Besides this, the snows upon.- the mountains begin to melt as the warm and long days eoine round, and contributing their quot^ to the various streams descending, from the hills, floods of great suddenness and- extent are. frequently the result* ■_ In Melbourne and. its neighbourhood we Lave had so little rain during the last few months that the prediction of anything Hlcetviloodseeni* ridiculous. But various districts of-the colony, wo are glad to learn, have been visited with rery heavy and seasonable rains, and the creeks ascl rivers are flowing strongly. A letter from our correspoudeut at Castlemaiue, which was puttished yesterday, state* that since last Monday noou it had rained continually. The creeks were greatly flooded. The Loddon was impassable, having risen some twelve feet, and there is no bridge, Muckh> ford was flooded; the new brick building intended for a mill,1 awl the private bridge near the high road, -were carried away by Togs of timber brought down' against them by thestream. The mail that left for Simsonrs th«> day beforQlvad returned, not Whig abk to «re»»

the Loddon: and it- was reported tliafc Cobb's coach was stuck fast, and that one horso had j been killed. " During every season, in our experience of this i colony, at which floods have been common, numerous cases of accident have occurred, many of then* of a fatal or otherwise' lamentable character. And unformed as are most of our roads, unbridgcd almost all our streams, we cannot help feeling the conviction that the liability to accident is a constantly increasing one in proportion as the number of travellers itself increases, and that the number of new' arrivals who aro now traversing the colony, and have but- little experience of Australian floods, renders the liabilities to casualties greater than ever. In a recent letter from'the interior a very formidable list of such accidents was supplied. The narrative was as follows:— * Accidents bt Drowning.—Several deaths have occurred in this district recently by drowming. Ina former communication I referred to the death of a man, name unknown, who'was frowned while crossing the Murrumbidgee. Jtfr. Cross, a constable in the Victoria 'police, stationed near' Maiden's Punt, was drowned1 sonae short time since, in the Campaspe. ■ He left Hopwood's Inn for the barracks, distant only one. mile and a half, and was never after--wards seen:* the horse which he rode was found. What is most strange in the affair, h?s route did .not lay across the Campaspe, as the barracks are <on that side of the stream on which Hopwood's Inn is situated. Mr. Cross was a young man of a superior station in life, having once held a commission in the Queen's army in- India.- His ■ 'body has not, to my knowledge, been found, Xest- in the fatal list comes poor Patrick' 31' Cowan/landlord of the Clare Inn, Campaspe. ■He was drowned in the river close to his own •door -vrbMe endeavouring to reach his punt, -iixed by the forreni in. the middle of the stream. Paddy/ as he was called, was a great .favourite,-and much esteemed for his good nature. His body was picked up near the spot where he met Ms melancholy end, and was buried on the Bendigo without the "benefit of "clergy," the priest having refused to read the' service over the deceased, because, as the priest ■alleged, M'Gowan had not been faithful to his ' creed ! Then, about the same time, and in the fetal Campaspe, we have a iaau belonging "to JMr. M 4D<ragall meeting with his death, and also , another man in. the employ of Mr. Robertson j v&U within* a few weekk And, as if in grim contrast to these deaths by flood, .the decayed remains of a man were picked tip on the banks of this river, supposed to be'the body of a cook " lately in the employ of Mr. Henry Barrow, innkeeper, on the Campaspe. So uncertain is life in the wild "bush!" ' " It is one of the most delightful features of the facility of addressing large numbers of one's fellow creatures, that opportunity is thereby afforded to do much to avert danger, and to . save life. • The internal conviction that one such life has been saved is an ample reward for any amount of trouble attachable to the effort, *md the constant hope of doing still more forms one of the most encouraging elements in the lot I of the public journalist. As tbe seasons have corae round t we have twice warned the residents in the country of the dangers front buah fires; by presenting in formidable array the leading peculiarities of some of the terrible conflagrations which have occasionally ravaged the various colonies of Australia. Again, we showed peopleduring last summer, the extreme dangers they run by injudicious exposure to the rays of a nearly vertical son ; and we collectr-d reports of numerous cases of attacks of coup </<? soldi, as illustrations of the manner in which human life cm be destroyed in a minute, by a neglect ol those natural precautions which it is not only foolish, bui> actually sinful to ignore. It is, of course, impossible to trace the full efficacy, of ihese warnings. They are thrown out promiscuously to the thirty-two poinf s of the compass. The v«ry pprnons who aro influtnced by them are themsolvcß unaware of the txtarct of t-hnt influence, or of the 'precise time ov the prt<dse means by which or at which they have brt»o indaced to adopt a lhore caution* and intelligent *vfit«u. Suffix it to say that while South JJejv Houth Wales, and ewn Vau Diemen'j* Land h&vn hoen frequently expo*«l U» fxfghUul <?Hlasiroph?K in this way. tin* 'vfAnny" h&B esctped 'with cv>mj>:mit!Vfly light v/"W.-iTCTMi % and during f,hp bhi year or two few **sAoa& bush fires hava occurred."

Our business now, however, is with floods. It will bo observed that a groat proportion of" accidents by water in the interior of this colony happen to people on horseback. Men quite inexperienced in such matters —who' have never before seen a horse out of his depth—venture ■into a swollen and rushing stream, and fancy, because it may look narrow and insignificant, that no w?al danger is incurred. Nothing is more absurd. The narrowest streams here are frequently tho most dangerous. Their banks are pteep; their depth groat: their current strong. Logs, and roots, and rocks, project in all directions j and as soon as the fatal plunge is made all is confusion and bewilderment; the horse and rider are at cross purposes,

and eventually drown each other. : It strikes us that a fatal mistake is often made in- adhering to the established crossingplaces of a stream during the time of tempo- \ rary floods. At such times the immense body of water rushing through some narrow channel gives ajvolumo to tho water and an impetuosity * to' the current which nothing can withstand. At suehstimes, we think<that a much wiser course would be to select some wider place whore the flood had spread over a largo surface, and where the full strength .of the current was therefore not so concentrated. ' It is ten times better to swim a little further in smooth water than to save distance and incur the risk of greatly increased presiure. Tho i deepest portion of a river during its ordinary condition might probably be,'the smoothest, | most quiet, and most safe during a time of flood. .The most shallow and the narrowest in ordinary circumstances'" may become the- most disturbed, rapid, and dangerous while' the flood lasts. Unthinking men, however, ride along a road till they come to the usual crossing place. They see bracks in and tracks out, and they are beyond their depths, and swept from their saddles before "they are aware of the danger they are in. But perhaps the greatest danger of all arises from the entire inexperience of many travellers in the matter of swimming horses. People ■venture into a deep stream on horseback who have' never seen a horse swim before, and they lose their presence of mind immediately. In fact, all sorts of absurd opinions are entertained about the swimming powers of the horse. People' will tell you that' ibis horse swims like a duck, that another rollover .on his side,-that a third * stands up on end in the water, and so forth; , and .they refer, any casualties that may occur to some such peculiarity on the part of the individual quadruped concerned. In real truth, all horses swim pretty much alike. Some are more accustomed to water than others, and have, therefore, more nerve and. presence of mind j but every horse will swim, and swim well, if he is let alone. It. is the rider's mismanagement which prevents thehoi"se from swimming. If a hundred horses be put into a river together, they -will be found to vary slightly in. the proportion of their bodies that ii immersed. A horse with' a, large barrel will .not sink so deeply as I one of smaller girth. A horse of an eager \ temperament will lift himself further out of the 1 water than one of a duller turn. But a careful ' .observer will notice, that in every case they barely keep the nostrils above'the surface,, and, of course upon the keeping' them free depends the safety of the animal. - I Now,- a man' gets -on the horse's back, still further depressing him in the water, and making it a still greater effort for him to keep his nose above the level of the .stream. f But, not satis* fied with this, he undertakes •to guide • him abruptly to some particular point on the oppo^ site bank which looks favourable for landing; and "in doing this he draws in the rein /is he would on shore. The first eftbetof the lightened rein, is, of course, to jnitl the horse?s -nose tinder wafer ; and the animal terrified by such a proceeding, rears up, paws wildly in the air, rolls over, and drowiw the rider. The head of a swimming horse ought to be be left perfectly free. Do his very best, and he can but just keep his nostrils clear; a pull tipon the bridle disturbs his entire equilibrium, and throws him all to wrongs. If the rider wishes to direct him to a particular point he innst do it gradually, and without in any degree drawing in the rein; He should reach forward and move the horse's head round by gently drawing upon the rein sideways, in the direction in which he wishes him to go: bat he should never upon any account .draw the head in towards the body. lie should always recollect that the first effect of the slightest attempt of this kind is to drag

iho nostrils under water, and prevent the horao from swimming altogether. Wo throw out these suggestions for the guidanco. of inoxperionccd travellers who are necessitated, inthocourso of their pcrcgnnationn to venture into deep water. Of course such risks sire better altogether avoided, if possible, and particularly •so by unpracticed men. But, wherover there may be an absolute necessity for such a venture/ the danger attached to it will bo greatly diminished■ if it bo undertaken in a reasonable and intelligent spirit, and unnecessary peril be not incurred by either foolhardinoas or by a want of proper forethought or knowledge of what is about to bo undertaken.