HuTTON. — On Artesian Wells. 663 



March, loth March, and 22nd Aprih Of these the hot winds 

 of the 1st and 2nd December, and of the 7th, 8th, and 9th 

 March, caused heavy floods in the river sufficient to be noticed 

 in the newspapers. The hot winds of the 13th and 24th 

 November and of the 22nd April were accompanied by rain, 

 and must therefore be omitted. With the other seven it did 

 not rain, but that on the 9th November is compHcated by the 

 hohday. With reference to the others, the diagrams show 

 that tile wells fell on the 19th and 20th October and on the 

 10th and 13th November. On the 24th they were stationary. 

 On the 1st December they fell. During the heavy floods of 

 the 2nd and 3rd the rise on the 2nd was no doubt due to that 

 day being Sunday, for on the 3rd the deep well remained 

 steady, and the shallow well rose slightly. On the 5th and 

 17th December both wells fell ; on the 7th March they rose ; 

 on the 8th the deep well remained steady while the shallow 

 well fell ; and on the 9th the deep well rose and the shallow 

 well fell. On these two last days the river was in high flood. 

 On the loth March the deep well rose and the shallow well 

 remained steady. It follows therefore that the wells do not 

 rise with the river, but are apparently unaffected by it. 



Up to the middle of January, 1895, the two wells fluctuated 

 fairly well together, the average difference in height being 7ft. 

 But on the 22nd January the deep well fell far more than the 

 shallow well, and this relatively lower level was maintained 

 until April, when the two wells nearly resumed their old rela- 

 tions, the deep well being about 6ft. llin. higher than the 

 shallow well. Possibly this may have been due to the water 

 from the deep stratum being used for watering the streets 

 during the hot months. 



Some of the vagaries of the deep well between the 12th 

 and 29th November may be due to large quantities being used 

 for washing moa-bones. During the latter part of October 

 and again in December the height of the water in the deep 

 well was very variable. Great falls occurred between the 

 14th and 20th December, and between the 23rd January and 

 the 2nd February, and a third between the 16th and 21st 

 February. For these I cannot account. 



The conclusions which seem to be justified from the ob- 

 servations of so short a period as one year are as follows : — 



1. The deep w^ell fluctuates more than the shallow well. 

 This is, no doubt, partly due to the far greater number of 

 wells sunk into the first stratum, all of which would rise and 

 fall together ; consequently it would require more w^ater to 

 raise them all an inch than if there were fewer of them. But 

 it mav be partly due to the head of water above the level of 

 Christchurch being smaller in the deep stratum than in the 

 shallow stratum. 



