98 J. H. MAIDEN. 
the other showing the sand piled up against a Station 
homestead. 
Let me invite your attention to an admirable paper by 
Mr. ©. A. Benbow, entitled ‘‘ Interior Land Changes.’” 
Mr. Benbow also delivered a lecture upon “‘ Drifting sands 
of the west of New South Wales ’”’ on the 30th April last. 
He did not publish on this occasion, but he presented many 
facts well worthy of attention by citizens of this State. 
Drifting sands have overwhelmed many a fair city, a 
fact with which every student of history and geography is 
familiar. By attending only to present requirements 
people have, by means of their flocks and herds, denuded 
the vegetation which naturally more or less fixes the soil, 
and to obtain fuel and timber they have cut down the 
shrubs and trees, either recklessly or without replacing 
them by younger growth; they have not guarded against 
forest or prairie fires, or when these have taken place, have 
not taken adequate steps to repair the damage. The 
devastations of war have added to the general destruction. 
By degrees, perhaps during a period extending over cen- 
turies, the carefully adjusted “‘ balance of nature’’ has 
been so disturbed that desert sands have encroached on 
agricultural lands and have overwhelmed villages and even 
large cities, the cumulative results of neglect being of such 
magnitude that the resources of the inhabitants have at 
length been insufficient to cope with them. All these 
catastrophes are gradual, and if they be studied, and the 
principles they can teach us be properly understood, then 
the first step with the view of combatting them will have 
been gained. 
In my -paper, ‘‘Forests in their relation to Rainfall,’” I 
have produced conclusive evidence to show that uncon- 
' Agricultural Gazette N. S. Wales, Oct 1901. 
2 This Journal, xxxv1., 211. 
