Particulars of thirty-seven bores sunk in the colony to a depth of 3,000 ft. and over are given. Of these eleven had reported flows, either large or small, during the year, three had been abandoned, and nine were still in progress. The yield of 376 bores in the colony was estimated at 214,000,000 gallons a day, the average per bore being over half a million gallons. Besides these, fifty-five sub-artesian wells--those whose water did not rise above the surface--yielded 21/2 million gallons a day; and perennial springs gave an ascertained continuous flow of nearly 4,000,000 gallons a day. The report calls attention to a serious diminution in the yield of certain wells, and says that it has been ascertained in some cases that the loss was due to loss of head, and not to any leakage or obstruction in the casing. The Hydraulic Engineer therefore again urges legislation to give the Government control of bore water. As to power, it is mentioned that a small electrical installation had been set up at Thargomindah by the Bulloo Divisional Board, and that the number of lamps of sixteen candle-power that would exhaust the bore power was 150 to 200. THE DROUGHT OF 1899. When the report dated 30th August, 1899, was prepared the country was held in the throes of a protracted drought, and the Hydraulic Engineer speaks of compression in his report on the ground of economy. For years past the reports had been becoming increasingly bulky, appendices and maps being supplied on a generous scale. Government expenditure in bore-sinking had now nearly ceased, presumably because private enterprise had already benefited greatly by Government prospecting for water, and the same necessity did not exist for State action as in previous years. The new feature of the departmental year's work is stated to have been the comparative analysis of the height of bore sites and the water potentials thereat, upon which the iso-potential map, with the full description given in page 56 of the report, is based. By this time the number of bores sunk to a depth of 3,000 ft. and over was fifty, an increase for the year of thirteen, which shows that private enterprise was still active in the search for artesian water. The total number of flowing bores in the colony was given as 440, with a yield of water of nearly 2661/2 million gallons a day. The report dated 25th August, 1900, mentions that during the year in the Adavale bore 9,000 gallons of water a day had been struck at 1,494 ft., and although further sinking had been carried to 2,930 ft. there was no increase in the supply. By this time the number of bores sunk to 3,000 ft. and over had increased by nine, or to fifty-nine, while the aggregate flow of artesian water was put at over 3211/2 million gallons per day. REGRETTABLE ECONOMIES.