22 J. F. Miller, Esq., on the 



was perfectly calm, — not a ripple upon it, and the water was found 

 to be only 3-8ths of an inch higher than in 1826 ; and, I have no 

 hesitation in saying that the present season has been far drier than 

 the summer of 1826, taking into consideration the time of the year, 

 the dry weather of 1826 taking place in June and July." 



On the 14th of June, 1824, when Derwent Lake was considered 

 to be unusually low, a mark was cut in the rock of " Friar's Crag," 

 by Mr Otley, of Keswick, which he calls zero. On the 5th of July, 

 1826, the water was six inches below the notch, but this great de- 

 pression might in part be accounted for by the state of the outlet. 

 On the 9th of June, 1830, it was 2 J inches; June the 1st, 1836, 

 1 inch ; and June 3d, 1844, 4 inches below zero. On the 27th of 

 April, 1852, Derwent Lake was 2f inches below the zero mark, — 

 and on the 2d of February last, it was 98 inches above the same 

 mark. In 1826, the Lake was below zero from the 12th of June 

 till the 12th of July, when rain came on, but the season might be 

 called droughty from the 13th of April till the 12th of August — 

 17 weeks. Two stooks of barley were cut at Portinscale on the 30th 

 of June, and new oats from Underskiddaw were sold on the 5th of 

 August in that year. In 1844, the Lake was at or below zero 

 from May 16th to June 9th ; and, in 1852, it was below zero from 

 the 9th of April till the 9th of May. Hence, while the meteorolo- 

 gical records kept at Whitehaven testify that no drought of equal dura- 

 tion to that of 1852, has happened during the last 20 years, the 

 comparative depth of the water in Crummock and Derwent Lakes 

 affords evidence almost equally conclusive, that so long a continu- 

 ance of dry weather has not occurred since the memorable drought 

 in 1826, or within the last 26 years. 



The unusually calm state of the atmosphere during the late remark- 

 able weather must have been striking, even to the most superficial 

 observer ; and, fortunate it is that this stillness prevailed. Had the 

 drought been accompanied by strong easterly winds, or, had it occurred 

 at a somewhat later period of the year, the evaporation from the 

 ground would have been increased to an enormous extent, and the 

 effects would, in all probability, have been most disastrous, both to 

 the vegetable and the animal kingdoms. Thus, in 1844, during 

 the 41 days of drought between the 23d of April and the 4th of 

 June, with occasional strong easterly winds, the evaporation amounted 

 to 7'825 inches ; but, in the late dry period, which lasted 29 days 

 longer, the water raised by evaporation in 70 days, is only 5*979, or 

 barely 6 inches. 



At the summit of Great Gabel, there is a vertical cavity in the 

 rock, which, owing to the frequent presence of clouds, the high de- 

 gree of humidity, and consequent feeble evaporating force at this 

 elevation, always contains water, except in the very driest seasons. 

 This "atmospheric spring, or well," as it is called, contained very 

 little water at the end of March, and we may assume that it was 

 quite dry early in April. The well was also dried up in the 



