264 A. LIVERSIDGE. 



I shall endeavour to obtain further and more precise information 

 upon this point. After perusing your interesting paper and 

 Humboldt's remarks upon dry fogs, with the more remote phe- 

 nomena recorded by the Roman poet, I can find no parallel to this 

 occurrence excepting in the appearance of cosmical meteoric dust, 

 hypothetically alluded to in your concluding remarks." — H. Jones. 



"Times Office, Murrurundi, Nov. 7, 1876. 

 "From enquiries made since my last, I have gleaned a few par- 

 ticulars, which though imperfect, may be worth communicating. 

 The most important of these have been supplied by Mr. George 

 Armstrong, a gentleman of very extensive colonial experience, at 

 present residing at Walcha. He informs me that the dry fog of 

 the 12th ultimo, was noticed near Bendemeer on the morning of 

 that day, about six o'clock. He was out with some assistants 

 looking after stock in the vicinity of Bendemeer, between that 

 town and Surveyor's Creek, when his attention was attracted by 

 an apparently heavy, widespreading cloud of smoke rolling over 

 the distant mountains. He directed the notice of those who 

 accompanied him to the strange appearance, and the impression 

 left upon their minds was that an immense bush fire had occurred 

 on the hills causing the smoke they imagined to be covering the 

 mountains. They rode in the direction of the mist, and soon dis- 

 covered that its origin and nature were widely different from those 

 already mentioned. In short they found it to be a dry fog, of 

 such an extent and density however, as to render it quite singular. 

 Mr. Armstrong is a native of South Australia, of which colony his 

 father and uncle were amongst the earliest pioneers, and he has 

 therefore the benefit of at least forty years' clear knowledge of the 

 seasons and phenomena witnessed in these colonies. According 

 to his account, these dry fogs, though not common, have occurred 

 several times within his recollection, but have never had nearly 

 so wide a range as that of last month. Many years ago he 

 encountered one of these fogs at the head of the Wilson River, in 

 the meridian of Capricorn, he was then engaged in driving stock, 

 I think, and when approaching the Valley of Lagoons, witnessed 



