president's address. 855 



M'Caughey. As the water did not rise in either of them to the 

 surface of the ground where the sinking was commenced, these 

 wells can scarcely, at the present time, come under the category 

 of the Artesian system ; but as I conceive that the upward flow 

 of water has been checked in attaining its proper elevation, 

 particularly that in No. 1 bore, by the method of boring described, 

 which would permit the diffusion of the rising waters by the 

 different channels met with in the course of passing through 

 such an amount of varied soil. This is well illustrated by the 

 two shafts themselves, the water level of No. 1 reaching to 90 

 feet below the surface, and that of No. 2 to only 10 feet. The 

 secret of this difference appears to lie in the fact that No. 1 did 

 not possess the amount of tough impervious clay which No. 2 

 had to pass through. I need scarcely say that the uppermost well 

 may be constructed of stone, bricks, or wood without any strict 

 attention being paid as to the jointing ; but the inner tube or 

 pipe in its whole length must be perfectly water-tight, in order 

 to secure higher levels and to prevent waste by diffusion, and 

 contamination by mingling with impure waters. I cannot but 

 think that had these bores been constructed on the principle 

 described above, the water in both supplied by the porous 

 cretaceous deposit would have overflowed the surface in a similar 

 manner to the Wee Wattah wells. 



These wells on the Dunlop run however, are a great success, 

 and we are indebted to Mr. James Wilson, the manager of the run, 

 for the perseverance and intelligence he has exercised so success- 

 fully in accomplishing this arduous undertaking. The two 

 wells are numbered by Mr. Wilson as No. 1 Mount Wilson well, 

 and No. 2 Kapiti well. The former is briefly described by Mr. 

 Wilkinson in the Annual Report of the Department of Mines for 

 1880. He reported conjointly with Messrs. Bruce and Gilliat, 

 that " on the Dunlop Station a bore was put down to a depth of 

 488 feet, when a strong supply of fresh water was struck, which 

 has risen to within 90 feet of the surface. In this well the water- 

 2C 



