168 METEOROLOGICAL PERIODICITY. 



recent encroachments on the sonth or town side, and on the 

 opposite side a considerable portion of land had been left by the 

 river, the current setting strongly on the town side ; but the 

 water in an ana-branch still surrounding the portion that had 

 been left, flood after flood came great and small, and deposited 

 mud, till the ana-branch was filled up, but no decided change 

 came in the river's course, even in the greatest floods of 1857 

 and others, until 1870, when all at once, as it were, the river 

 began to cut in on the town, and took away whole houses, even 

 a terrace of small ones, and seemed disposed to cut off a large 

 bend in the river, and many acres of the town, at the same time 

 it made another large addition to the opposite side at that point, 

 entirely changing its course. Judging from the great floods in 

 the Hawkesbury in 1816 to 1819, it is probable that the Hunter 

 was similarly visited ; indeed, there was debris in the trees at 

 the first settlement which left no doubt of the fact, and we are 

 left to form an opinion of the date from the recent character of 

 the debris, and the banks of the river where changes had taken 

 place ; and I do not think we can, from the known character of 

 the seasons, place them at any other date than about 1817 ; or, 

 in other words, we have evidence here of a similar period to that 

 observed in Lake G-eorge ; and it is interesting, in connectioj- 

 with the general evidence from Lake Greorge and the Hunter of 

 a long period during which the seasons seem to run to a climax, 

 to note some of the facts in connection with the nineteen-year 

 period, which seem to me to prove beyond doubt that there is 

 a tendency here also to run at every third period to a maximum. 

 To take the whole of the evidence on this subject which may be 

 derived from the tabular statements would take much too long 

 for our present purpose, and a few instances will be sufficient to 

 show that this tendency exists, which is all I wish to do at 

 present : — 



1790. There was heavy rain in February and March, and it is 



said, " no rain fell from June to November," which was a 



very severe drought. 

 1847. There were heavy rains in the early part of the year, but 



from May to the end of the year was a very severe drought. 

 Again, 1809, one of the intermediate years, while generally a 



dry year, and specially so at the end, had very heavy 



rains in May and July, and in the latter month a very 



heavy flood. 

 While 1866, a similar year, and, like 1809, very dry at the end, 



had heavy floods in June and July. 



The other year of this series, 1828, there was heavy rain in 

 April and June, and a very hot and dry spring. We have yet to 

 learn if that fearful drought, so well known of old, will reappear 

 iu 1885. 



