94 A NEW ZEALAND NATURALIST'S CALENDAR. 



and superb beauty, but it was followed by a still more 

 remarkable effect. When the sun had disappeared behind 

 the high ground, the view to the north and east was simply 

 marvellous. Pine Hill and Mount Cargill, North -East 

 Valley and Signal Hill, were bathed in dark and sombre 

 greens and greys, tinted apparently with lilac, against a 

 background of almost indigo colour, which changed to deep 

 violet as the light waned. Such cloud effects would be 

 classed as "impossible" on canvas, so startling were they 

 in their contrasts. But they are not uncommon in our 

 skies, and for all who have eyes to see they constitute one 

 of the redeeming and beautifying features of our climate. 



The question is often asked but seldom satisfactorily 

 answered, How far does the cutting down and clearing 

 away of bush affect the climate of a district ? The popular 

 idea is that it tends to make it drier. As far as any 

 alteration in the rainfall is concerned this view is probably 

 incorrect. The presence of large masses of high land in 

 the neighbourhood of the sea probably modifies the meteor- 

 ological conditions profoundly, but the removal of a few 

 thousand acres of the surface vegetation can have very little 

 effect on the condensation and precipitation of moisture 

 in the district. But although the clearing of the bush 

 may not affect the climate in general, it has remarkable 

 and very serious local effects. Thus, in a sense, the people 

 of Dunedin have shown extraordinary carelessness and 

 neglect of prudential considerations in allowing any of the 

 land in the catchment area of Ross's Creek to lie alienated 

 and the bush destroyed. Land covered with uncleared 

 timber retains a great proportion of the moisture which 

 falls upon it, and only parts with it slowly. It is not a 

 difference of evaporation, for the probability almost 

 certainly is that bush land evaporates water at a far 

 greater rate per acre than is the case with cleared ground. 

 It is more probable that the cause is due to the more 

 spongy nature of the surface materials and the mechanical 

 entanglements of roots and fallen vegetable debris. On 

 cleared land the rain may, and probably does, fall as 

 frequently and as heavily as before, but instead of being 



