2 
Supplied with this information, I venture to assert that 
(1st) the high westerly winds experienced here are the result of 
the weather experienced at stations to the south; (2nd) they 
are coast winds, and do not penetrate to or come from the in- 
terior ; (3rd) as they originate in the south, and not in the west, 
their arrival can be predicted almost with certainty by reference 
to the weather reports from the southern colonies. 
In support of the above assertions, and as a further illustra- 
tion of the subject under consideration, I append the result of 
an attempt to follow the track of ail inrush of polar wind on the 
Australian coast during the period from the 7th to the 12th of 
May this year. 1'he accompanying chart shows that during the 
three previous days — viz., the 5th, 6th, and 7th — an area of high 
pressure passed slowly over Australia from Cape Borda, in South 
Australia, to Sydney, in New South Wales. On the 4th the 
maximum of pressure lay near Cape Borda, on the 5th near 
Wentworth, on the 6th still near Wentworth, with barometer 
rising ; on the 7th the barometer was falling and the area of 
maximum pressure was near Sydney. This area resembled the 
u anti-cyclonic” areas ot the Northern Hemisphere in its slowness 
of motion, the reverse motion of its winds, and in the light 
character of its winds. Mr. R. H. Scott, in “ Weather Charts 
and Storm Warnings,” defines anti-cyclonic systems thus: — 
“ They are marked by a very slow circulation of the air — or in 
other words, by light winds— by low temperature in winter, great 
absolute dryness of the air, at least in the centre, and consequent 
absence of rain. . . . When we look at the winds we find that 
their circulation is exactly opposite to that of cyclonic systems 
— it is with watch hands* ... If the barometer reading 
at any place or district is higher than at the places all round it, 
that place or district is the centre of an anti-cyclonic area.” 
During the 7th a gale from the south-west was advancing 
upon the Australian coasts, and by 9 a.m. on the 8th the baro- 
metric conditions were altered completely ; the isobars which 
on the 7th circled around the district immediately to the north- 
west of Sydney, now ranged in nearly parallel lines from south- 
west to north-east, the area of lowest pressure being over the 
north-west coast of Tasmania. That this gale came from a true 
south-'west direction is evident, for vessels coming from King 
George’s Sound to Adelaide experienced no high winds. 
The “ Sepia,” bound for Brisbane, in longitude 129° E., 
latitude 45° S., had variable winds on the morning of Friday, the 
7th ; about 2 p.m. the wind gradually freshened until it became 
a gale from the south-west ; all Saturday it blew a steadily 
increasing gale (with rain), and on Sunday it blew a hurricane 
from west-by-south ; the ship taking in water, the watch having 
to take to the rigging, and the “ look-out” man to the fore- 
yard. On Monday the wind veered to south-west and 
moderated. 
* This, of course, is for the Northern Hemisphere ; the reverse, or against watch hands, 
is the case in the Southern Hemisphere. 
