The Water Supply of Sydney. 89 



" 4. That no pigs, goats, sheep, horned cattle, or horses, shall be 

 permitted to drink at, or otherwise render foul, the said waters, 

 or any part of them, under pain of forfeiture of said animals, as 

 already prescribed in his Excellency's public notice, dated 11th 

 of August last." 



The next reference that I find to the Tanks, is in the Sydney 

 Gazette of March 2nd, 1811. " The long prevailing drought has 

 destroyed every hope of the maize crop, which is unfortunately 

 past recovery. A scarcity of water has also been the consequence, 

 scarcely ever before witnessed. In Sydney the Tanks have been 

 several weeks empty, and those who were in want of water 

 obliged to collect it from small cavities in the spring course above 

 the tanks, which has afterwards been sold at from fourpence to 

 sixpence per pail." Heavy rains fell soon after the date of this 

 notice ; and for several years thereafter (with the exception of 

 1814-5), floods were more characteristic of the country than 

 droughts. So frequent, indeed, were these floods, and so 

 destructive, that fears were entertained that the cultivation of 

 the alluvial flats of the Hawkesbury, on which Sydney then 

 greatly depended, would have to be given up. 



In 1820 there were tvvo or three heavy bursts of rain, causing 

 flood3, but there was also a continuance of dry weather, which 

 brought out the following notice in the Gazette of October 2Sth : 

 — " The present dry season of the year being indicative of an 

 approaching long drought, which will be much felt throughout 

 the town of Sydney, we presume it would be advisable, as much 

 for the sake of decency as cleanliness, to pay a little if not due 

 regard to the general orders in existence relative to the preserva- 

 tion from all filth and impurity of that valuable and serviceable 

 reservoir— the Tanks. With much pain we have lately observed 

 individuals washing themselves in this stream of water, particu- 

 larly in that part that runs central from King-street, because that 

 spot is almost secluded from every eye, that of curiosity excepted. 

 In former times the punishment for this offence, it may be recol- 

 lected, was summarily severe ;" and they go on to quote from 

 the General Order of September 1810. In 1823 the Gazette 

 (November 6,) again comes out in defence of the water supply, 

 by a republication of the General Order of September, 1810, 

 prefaced by the following words : — " In consequence of certain 

 intelligence having reached us, to the serious injury and annoy- 

 ance of the inhabitants of the town of Sydney, that the stream 

 of water which flows through the town, and the tanks which have 

 been constructed thereon, at a vast expense to Government, are 

 systematically polluted and rendered totally unfit (if known 

 generally) for the valuable purposes intended, we have thought 

 it advisable to publish the following extract, &c" A drought of 

 some severity began in this year, and continued till towards the 



