98 HISTORY OF FLOODS IN THE HAWKESBURY RIVER. 
shaded blue. Also a certain plan of the district will be found 
showing the character of the country ; and a diagram showing 
relative heights of floods, and variations in rainfall. 
Many of the recent Hawkesbury floods produce little or no 
change in the river bed, but there are many indications of changes 
in the past. Even new and old channels may be seen on the 
Richmond flats not yet filled up, and the present course has been 
_ cut through an older deposit of gravel and soil. Some very 
junction ; all the cutting is in the south side towards the town of 
Richmond, and three very remarkable landslips took place on that 
side, one of which was witnessed by Mr. G. M. Pitt and his 
father. When standing on the south side, and hearing a noise 
looked towards the river, then in flood, and” saw about quarter 
acre with oak trees upon it sliding rapidly into the stream 
ttn an opening in the immediate bank of the river. The 
ing was much narrower than the moving land, but this 
seem ed to be in a soft and yielding or pasty state, and so found 
into the water. The marks of these slips were visible in August, 
1876, and then the opening in the bank of one at least seemed to 
be less than quarter of the width of the land that had slipped 
through it. 
omens tr Nees some time to the study of the effects of floods 
the Hawkesbury River, I thought the following historical 
natin of the various floods, &c., which have been recorded, would 
perhaps be interesting to the Members of the Royal Society. 
When the Governor of this Colony visited the Hawkesbury in. 
1789 he saw signs of floods 20 feet to 40 feet above the then 
level ; and the colonists had not long settled on the river before 
they were alarmed by a flood which came on in the night without 
any warning. This was the flood of March 3rd, 1799, which we 
are told that the settlers saw no on of sach a disaster, an 
_ woke up one morning to find re whole country under water, and 
many of them were unable to get away sare their houses until 
: Sea with boats. It is said that the rh knew that a flood 
eee on, but the whites saw no s of it when . 
the nights oa tis 
