Ill 
And again : 
It has been well established that forests have a most important bearing upon the conservation ot 
rainfall ; that the forest floor permits a seepage o water to the source of springs, and thus maintains their 
steady flow ; that they hold back 'the precipitation that falls, especially in the form of snow, thus 
preventing or ameliorating the effects of dangerous freshets. There is not the slightest doubt of their 
great importance to the welfare of man, but all these facts do not affect the question of their influence upon 
precipitation.* Two years' observations are insufficient to show any definite variation in the annual 
average of the quantity of rain. But, so far as they go, they show that at Marmato the mass of running 
water had diminished in spite of the larger quantity of rain which fell. It is, therefore, probable that 
local clearings of forest land, even of very moderate extent, cause springs and rivulets to shrink, and even 
to disappear, without the effect being ascribable to any diminution in the amount of rain that falls. t 
It is an almost universal and, I believe, well-founded opinion, that the protection afforded by the 
forest against the escape of moisture from its soil by superficial flow and evaporation, ensures the 
permanence and regularity of natural springs, not only within the limits of the woods, but at some 
distance beyond its borders, and thus contributes to the supply of an element essential to both animal and 
vegetable life. As the forests are destroyed, the springs which flowed from the woods, and, consequently, 
the greater watercourses fed by them, diminish both in number and volume. J 
Some other references to various authorities incidentally touch upon the 
effects of forests on the flow of springs. 
I will take further examples in our own State, quoting some that are of 
especial interest to us at this time, because they are on the catchment area of the 
Sydney Water Supply. There are places on slopes, e.g., at Cordeaux River and 
East Kangaloon (e.g., the properties of Messrs. Brooker and Kirkland), in which 
there were intermittently dry creek-beds before the arrival of the white man* 
Since the felling of trees has taken place from the vicinity of the creek bed,, a 
permanent water supply has resulted. In fact, in one case in which there was no 
creek at all within human knowledge, the selector has had to provide himself with 
a small bridge. ( I have referred to this already in connection with the statements 
of Mr. R. Wyndham, and others.) 
Again, the Cataract River rises on Mount Keira in densely timbered 
country the Coast Range, where there is a rainfall of (say) 60 inches yet this is 
an intermittent stream. On the other hand, the Cordeaux lliver, which rises at 
the back of Mount Kembla, further south, is more sparsely timbered, and has been 
cleared up to nearly the head of the river, yet it never ceases to flow. It is also in 
country with less average rainfall than the preceding. 
Mr. Harris, the Ranger of the Catchment Area, informed me that there are 
two tributaries running into the Cordeaux River on its left bank, viz., Sandy Creek 
and Wattle Creek. The former, perhaps, drains a larger area than the latter. 
Sandy Creek is well timbered; Wattle Creek is sparsely timbered. During the 
drought of (say) 1900-2 Sandy Creek ceased to flow, while Wattle Creek was still 
running. He is emphatic in attributing this increased flow to the denudation of the 
timber, stating that the trees transpire or absorb the water which is dissipated into 
the atmosphere. 
I have found that a spring in the parish of Dulladerry, about 2 miles from Meramburn Railway 
Station, went dry during the drought of 1884, but has given no indication of failure during the recent 
H. A. Hazen, op, cit. t Boussingault, quoted by J. Croumbie Brown, op. cit. J J. Croumbie Brown, op. cit., p. 167. 
