METEORIC DUSTS, N.S.W. 261 



on Thursday, the valley of the Page was as clear as usual on fine 

 mornings, but on the ranges a peculiar dense mist, in colour pre- 

 cisely like a dust-cloud, was seen advancing quickly towards the 

 town of Murrurundi. At 6 o'clock the whole of the valley with 

 the town and the surrounding mountains were enveloped in the 

 murky haze, the atmosphere became oppressive as though a heavy 

 thunderstorm were at hand, and the sun was so obscured that it 

 could be viewed without the slightest inconvenience by the naked 

 eye. No disagreeable odour accompanied the fog, but it caused a 

 sensation similar to that experienced during the first downpour 

 of rain upon a dusty surface, that oppressiveness to the senses 

 generally that a continued fall of rain would be likely to relieve. 

 In fact, had it not been for the strangely impalpable nature oi: 

 the fog it would have been considered as an extraordinary diffusion 

 of dust in the atmosphere, consequent upon strong winds. No 

 inconvenience was occasioned to the eyes, the only discomfort 

 being the comparative sultriness of the morning and the sense of 

 oppression experienced. No dust was left by the fog, nor the 

 slightest moisture; it remained for many hours a perfectly dry, 

 dense, dusty looking mist enwrapping every object in obscurity 

 for many miles around. Shortly after half-past eight a.m. it left 

 the Page valley, and proceeded towards the south, driven before 

 the wind which rushed along the passage between the mountains 

 with great force. The general direction of the wind was nearly 

 direct from west to east, but as usual in the valley its course 

 locally was determined by the position of the mountains, and the 

 fog in the lowest lands was driven off to the south at the time 

 already mentioned, while a portion of it lingered about the hills 

 until nearly midday; at the head of the Page, I believe, it was 

 discernible in the afternoon. 



"At Scone, twenty-five miles south of Murrurundi, the fog made 

 its appearance shortly before 8 a.m., while Murrurundi was still 

 enveloped in its mist. A gentleman resident in this colony for 

 upwards of thirty years, and a very shrewd observer of the weather, 

 happened to travel from Murrurundi to Scone during the continu- 



