METEOEOLOQICAL OBSEBVATIONS. 163 



Untjsual Fall of Eain.— On the night of the 'Tth of 

 June, 1850, and until daylight on the following morning, 

 the rain descended ia a tropical deluge upon the Bermudas. 

 This heavy ra,in was accompanied with distant thunder and 

 lightning. White's Marsh, near my residence, was flooded 

 with water, and Mr. W. B. Smith, the Eeceiver-General of 

 the Islands, informed me, that on the same night, a large 

 tank, which he built under his residence at Eiddle's 

 Bay five and twenty years before, overflowed with water 

 for the first time since its construction. Previous to this 

 event the catch of water had never reached within some 

 feet of the upper margin of the tank. As another proof of 

 the unusual quantity of rain which fell on that occasion, 

 I was told, on excellent authority, that twenty-five tons of 

 water were obtained on board the " Tenedos " convict hulk 

 that night, and all from the catch of her own roof — J. L. H. 



Febsh Watee Sources. — -'It is not uncommon to hear 

 the native inhabitants of the Bermudas speak of their 

 "Springs of Fresh "Water." 'Now, this is merely a f aeon de 

 parler, for in reality there is not the smallest rill of running 

 water in those islands ; the so-called " springs " being 

 nothing more than weUs sunk a few feet in depth on the 

 lower levels, particularly along the edge of the north-shore. 

 From these, a supply of water is obtained which can be 

 used for ordinary purposes, though the water in them is 

 subject to rise and fall with the action of the tides.* 



There can be little doubt that these weUs are supplied 



* It is true that small imdergromid rills of water are sometimes met 

 ■with in draining the marsh lands near the level of the sea, towards whicl^ 

 they invariahly run. 



