Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia — Volume ISturt, Charles
History
Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia — Volume I
Sturt, Charles
New South Wales -- Discovery and exploration; Sturt, Charles, 1795-1869
The most serious disadvantages under which the colony of New South
Wales labours, is in the drought to which it is periodically subject.
Its climate may be said to be too dry; in other respects it is one of
the most delightful under heaven; and experience of the certainty of
the recurrence of the trying seasons to which I allude, should teach
men to provide against their effects. Those seasons, during which no
rain falls, appear, from the observations of former writers, to occur
every ten or twelve years; and it is somewhat singular that no cause
has been assigned for such periodical visitations. Whether the state of
the interior has anything to do with them, and whether the wet or dry
condition of the marshes at all regulate the seasons, is a question
upon which I will not venture to give my decisive opinion. But most
assuredly, when the interior is dry, the seasons are dry, and VICE
VERSA. Indeed, not only is this the case, but rains, from excessive
duration in the first year after a drought, decrease gradually year
after year, until they wholly cease for a time. It seems not
improbable, therefore, that the state of the interior does, in some
measure, regulate the fall of rain upon the eastern ranges, which
appears to decrease in quantity yearly as the marshes become exhausted,
and cease altogether, when they no longer contain any water. A drought
will naturally follow until such time as the air becomes surcharged
with clouds or vapour from the ocean, which being no longer able to
sustain their own weight, descend upon the mountains, and being
conveyed by hundreds of streams into the western lowlands, again fill
the marshes, and cause the recurrence of regular seasons.
TEMPERATURE OF THE CLIMATE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account