176 NEW SOUTH WALES. 



There is a portion of this country that is an exception to the general 

 rule of aridity, namely, the district of Illawarra. This forms a belt of 

 from one to ten miles wide, and has the range of the Kangaroo Hills 

 just behind it, of one thousand feet ; these are sufficiently high at this 

 distance from the coast to condense the moisture, and also to protect 

 the district from the blighting effects of the blasts from the interior. 



One is entirely unprepared for the alleged facts in relation to this 

 country : for instance, Mitchell, in his journey to the south and west, 

 during the four winter months, witnessed no precipitation of moisture 

 except frosts in the mornings, and the thermometer was often below 

 the freezing point. Violent winds occur, which have obtained the 

 name of brick-fielders. They are nothing more than a kind of gust, 

 peculiar to the environs of Sydney, after a sultry day. During one of 

 these gusts little or no rain falls, though the wind frequently approaches 

 a hurricane in force. These winds get their name from bringing the 

 dust, from the brick-fields, formerly in the suburbs of Sydney, but which 

 are now almost entirely built over. The temperature during the blow 

 generally falls twenty or twenty-five degrees, in the space of as many 

 minutes ; the dust is very great, and the wind so strong, as to cause 

 apprehension lest the houses should be unroofed, or the chimneys 

 thrown down. Our standard barometer was carefully watched during 

 the coming on of two of these gusts, and found to fall 0*200 in., the 

 first time ; and the second only 0-020 in. ; but the temperature fell each 

 time about ten degrees. They were not, however, true brick-fielders, 

 or such as a resident would so denominate. 



Snow has been known to fall in Sydney, but so rarely, that we were 

 told some of the inhabitants were doubtful as to its nature. . On the 

 mountains it is not uncommon, and in the winter season is always seen 

 on those in the New England district, which, although three or four 

 degrees to the northward of Sydney, enjoys a much cooler climate. 



Major Mitchell often found that the temperature exceeded 100° of 

 Fahrenheit. The heat was, of course, very oppressive, and more so 

 on account of the little shade the native trees afford. The difference 

 of temperature between the day and night is great, but upon this point 

 I was able to get but little information ; the meteorological registers that 

 have been kept at Sydney, have omitted the night hours altogether. 



I have been favoured since my return with the abstract returns of 

 the meteorological registers during parts of the years 1840 and '41, 

 kept at the South Head of Port Jackson, two hundred and fifty-four 

 feet above the level of the sea. Being kept immediately at the sea- 

 coast, this record does not furnish so satisfactory an account of the 

 climate, as if the place of observation had been farther in the interior. 



