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this supposition many projects have been started and failed, 
simply because impossibilities have been expected. 
One fixed and universal law governs all water springs, 
viz. : — That the outlet, or escape, is governed by the source, 
or inlet. That all springs are supplied from the surface is, we 
take it as a fact, confirmed when we bear in mind that the 
strata of the ground beneath the surface differs very greatly in 
character. Clays, shales, and solid rocks are so close in tex- 
ture, that water cannot find its way through them. Others 
are more loose, and allow water not only readily to flow, or 
percolate through them, but, owing to their porous nature, 
become both channels and reservoirs ; such strata, cropping 
out to the surface, and inclining so as to underlie the more 
impervious ones from the natural reservoirs, to which those 
in pursuit of water, by underground operations, should have 
recourse. Such is the principle to be observed in the search 
for water ; but how often do we see attempts made to procure 
water where no such strata exist, to the great loss of capital, 
and disappointment of the parties, who in all probability 
would not have made the efforts had such means of informa- 
tion as I have suggested been within their reach. The reason 
why springs from under the hard bed coal, or gannister, 
are abundant in quantity and superior in quality, is simply 
this : — the strata through its porous nature and freedom of 
composition being unusually free from impurities, with a 
rapid incline to the hills, together with its open character, 
the soil being a mixture of bind and shaly sandstones, forms 
both passages, filters, and subterraneous reservoirs. The 
sandy ground absorbs the rain that falls upon it, and thus so 
long as evaporisation from the sea is continued, and the rain 
falls on the' porous hills I allude to, so long may we expect a 
supply to be continued. To the supply thus afforded there 
is certainly a limit ; and I sincerely trust that before long 
some definite result may be obtained, and recorded, as to 
