236 



NOTE ON THE GUYRA LAGOON, N.S.W. 



20 years was obtained from the Meteorological Bureau. The figures^ 

 are given below : — 



been quite normal since 1902. 



It is also possible that earth-movements have opened fissures 

 through which the water may have drained to lower levels. 

 Mr. Frank Cotton has stated that the country in the immediate 

 neighbourhood has only recently been used for cultivation, having 

 previously been utilised for pastoral purposes. He suggests that 

 the difference in the run-off from the hard pastoral ground, and 

 the soft absorbent cultivated land may account for the failure of 

 water to reach the lake. The question is one of some moment to 

 the Lands Department, by which the lake-bed was proclaimed a 

 temporary common in 1904. Applications are now being made 

 to use it for agricultural purposes. 



Summary. — From the evidence so far gathered, it appears that 

 the Mother of Ducks Lagoon is an old crater-lake. The chief 

 evidences in favor of this hypothesis are — 



(1) The lake occurs in a rock of volcanic origin. 



(2) The limited drainage-area, which is restricted by a con- 

 tinuous hill some 40-50 feet high round the lake. [The inlet 

 at the southern end of the lake may be regarded as a breach in 

 the old crater-ring.] 



* Incomplete returns. 



