Art. XVI.— Notes on the Meteorology of the Australian 



Alps. 



By James Stirling, F.L.S., Hon. Cor. Mem. Ro. Soc., S.A. 



[Read 11th December, 1884.] 



In an interesting report on the physical character and 

 resources of Gippsland, by Mr. Skene, Surveyor-General, and 

 Mr. E. B. Smyth, late Secretary for Mines, the following 

 remarks concerning the meteorology of Gippsland are 

 made : — 



"It is much to be regretted that so little is known of the 

 meteorology of Gippsland. A few observations have been made 

 at one or more points on the coast, but no information is obtain- 

 able respecting the climate of that part of Gippsland bordering on 

 the Dividing Eange. In that area there are rich soils, much of 

 the land is well grassed, and the enclosures which we saw under 

 cultivation presented the most favourable aspects, and it is not 

 creditable to the colony that vague and probably incorrect state- 

 ments respecting the fall of ram, the temperature, and the 

 occurrence of snowstorms cannot be met by an appeal to accurate 

 records of the weather. It is our duty to recommend that no 

 time be lost in instituting, a series of meteorological observations 

 in Gippsland ; able and willing observers can be found hi all 

 towns and settlements, and with a little zeal at the seat of 

 Government the work would proceed rapidly, and many of the 

 representations which might deter settlers from occupying the 

 higher lands would, we are convinced, be proved to be untrust- 

 worthy or exaggerated." 



Acting on the suggestions embodied in the foregoing, and 

 with a view to obtain some reliable data to aid physiographic 

 researches in the Australian Alps, I commenced, during 1879, 

 recording weather observations at Omeo, and, by a corre- 

 spondence with some of the oldest settlers and other 

 inhabitants, to elicit information respecting the weather 

 during previous years. So far the results seem to confirm 

 the suggestions made in the above-mentioned report ; for an 

 appeal to the records of the past five years would certainly 

 indicate that the empirical representations as to the extreme 

 severity of the climate are not altogether to be relied on, 



