152 HENRY A. HUNT. 



out of place. A study of its leading characteristics may, in some 

 future time, assist the meteorologist in recognising the early signs 

 and portents of another such calamity. 



A RECENT GALE OF THE DANDENONG TYPE. 



The second gale referred to occurred on the 23rd of September, 

 1892 — sixteen years after the famous "Dandenong" storm. On 

 this occasion the wind attained a velocity of one hundred and 

 twenty miles an hour. The series of anti-cyclones in August and 

 those in the early days of September were of considerable energy, 

 and in each case the high pressure to the west, which, from its 

 unusually energetic state, doubtless aggravated the violence of 

 the storm, had completely disappeared on the following days. 

 All that remained were horizontal isobars of a relatively low 

 pressure in the southern ocean. Particulars of the " Dandenong" 

 gale may be found in Mr. Russell's paper on " Storms on the New 

 South Wales Coast," read before the Royal Society of New South 

 Wales on 7th August, 1878. (See following diagram, also page 

 175.) 



BAROMETERS FALL AFTER WIND VEERS TO SOUTH. 



These are two noteworthy instances in which the barometers, 

 after a southerly, have been observed to fall instead of rise, with 

 active high pressure in the rear at the commencement of the blow. 

 The gale of 1892 was not a burster, but a gradual change to south 

 which took place some thirty hours previously. In this instance 

 the \ depression, which seemed to act in concert with the 

 tropical cyclone, appears to have backed from a situation midway 

 between Australia and New Zealand. 



CONDITIONS WHICH REGULATE THE NUMBER OF BURSTERS. 



Before proceeding further, it may be advisable to offer a sug- 

 gestion as to the causes which seem to the writer to justify the 

 two apparently anamalous statements made in an earlier part of 

 this essay ; (1) that bursters are less frequent and also less violent 

 than usual, during those seasons when the interior of the country 

 is suffering from drought ; and (2) that they are also less frequent 



