BUSH FIEES. 231 



the deserts of the interior like a furnace blast, and both 

 man and beast feel its effects. All bush-work is sus- 

 pended during the heat of the day. The cattle seek the 

 nearest water-holes, the dogs lie panting in the shade, 

 and the birds sit listless on the branches with open 

 mouths and drooping wings. The hot wind generally 

 commences about nine, and in the afternoon it suddenly 

 chops round to the south, and a sea-breeze sets in. The 

 hot winds are most prevalent in January and February ; 

 they sometimes last three days, and come on perhaps 

 every ten days. In Melbourne a hot-wind day is called 

 a " brick-fielder," on account of the dust, which darkens 

 the sky. On these days dense volumes of smoke rising 

 in different directions warn the settler that bush-fires 

 are raging, and the whole country will be in a blaze per- 

 haps for miles. The fire comes rolling on, devouring 

 everything in its progress, sweeping through forest and 

 over plain, and nothing stops it except a bare place that 

 has been previously burnt. Such a day was Black 

 Thursday some few years since, when bush-fires raged 

 throughout the country, and the loss of life and destruc- 

 tion of property was so immense, that it has ever since 

 been a "black-letter day" in the bushman's calendar. 

 In my opinion these fires are in a great measure pro- 

 duced by the heat of the sun and atmosphere. They are 

 sure to rage on a hot-wind day, and I have seen a fire 

 break out in different places on the plains a mile apart 

 at the same time. Glass- bottles and pieces of tin lying 

 about act, I fancy, as burning glasses to the sun's rays, 



