89 



•ground reservoir o£ water, from ^YhicIl we could draw perma- 

 nent and large supplies, and wMcli could be brought out by 

 gravitation at levels suitable for distribution over our plains 

 wbere required. 



Such underground water supplies in many other countries 

 have been turned to practical account. Eor instance, in Cali- 

 fornia, where tunnelling has been carried out under some of 

 ihe rivers ; at Seville, in Spain, where the water supply is 

 obtained by a tunnel into water-bearing strata, consisting of 

 permeable calcareous rocks resting on impermeable clay. The 

 springs rise and flow away through the tunnel to the city. 

 Some parts of these tunnelling works are said to have been 

 carried out by the ancient Romans. Explorations also were 

 made by tunnels in the hills in the neighbourhood of Lisbon, 

 resulting in obtaining a supply of about 120 million gallons 

 per annum ; also the city of Florence has obtained water by 

 similar means. A tunnel has been driven into the valley of 

 the Eiver Arno, and the supply of water, which is of an extra 

 I)ure quality for domestic purposes, is no less than l,734i million 

 gallons per annum, or about twice the capacity of the city of 

 Adelaide waterworks, and the total cost of these Italian works 

 was only £268,000, or not quite one-third the cost of the Ade- 

 laide waterworks ! 



As, however, our conditions are different from those of the 

 countries just named, it appeared to me necessary to examine 

 the question «5 initio, and entirely from the standpoint of our 

 own climatic and geological conditions. In some of these coun- 

 tries the rainfall is much larger than here, and in others, though 

 the rainfall is no greater than our own, yet the rivers are fed 

 by the melting of snow on the mountains. ISTotwithstanding 

 these climatic differences, I have no reason to, doubt the con- 

 clusion that our underground supply of water thus available 

 in the hills is of such a great extent as to make the question of 

 its utilization one of the most important questions for our own 

 country, as well as the various other colonies of Australasia. 



In collecting data for my investigations I have been indebted 

 to the kindness of the following gentlemen, which I beg to ac- 

 knowledge with thanks, namely :— Messrs. Erancis Clark and 

 Sons, Adelaide, for particulars of bores at Kilkenny and 

 Port Adelaide ; Mr. Burnell, for borings at Hindmarsh ; J. 

 "W. Jones, Esq., Conservator of Water, for borings at Bruce, 

 and levels and depths of water near Adelaide ; R. L. Mesteyer, 

 Esq., E.M.S.E., Hydraulic Engineer, for river gaugings at 

 Earossa and Eeetaloo. 



The method of drawing supplies from these underground 

 water storages in the hills, as I have already indicated, is 

 usually by means of tunnels and branch galleries into the 



