This water was at first of very dark colour, owing to the amount of lig - 
nitic material in the sand, and the occurrence of a thin bed (3 feet) of im¬ 
pure brown coal. After running for some time, the water became muck 
clearer, and it is now of a grey colour, highly charged with fine to medium 
grained quartz sand. This sand shows evidence of considerable attrition r 
a large proportion of the grains being rounded, the others partially so. 
With this sand small lumps of nodular pyrites are being washed up. 
Some of them have pieces of lignite and brown coal attached; others are 
practically pure pyrites with rounded surfaces, showing, as a rule, evidence 
of attrition. The pyrites has probablv been formed by the reducing action 
of lignite or carbonaceous matter on sulphate of iron in solution. Besides 
the sand and pyrites, lumps of lignite are washed up. One large lump 
forced up was within the fraction of an inch of the diameter of 
the bore tubes in size. It was about 14 inches long, and weighed 15J lbs. 
in its wet state. It caused a diminution in the flow for several hours 
during its gradual passage up the pipes. On its ejection, the flow again 
became equal to the estimated 2,000,000 gallons a day. As the sand 
comes out of the bore, it is shovelled out of the launder and channel 
leading away from it. This work requires the constant services of two 
to three men. Calculating from the rough measurements I took, there 
are upwards of 600 cubic yards of sand lying around the bore site. In 
addition, a large amount has been carted away. As most of this sand 
has probably come from beneath the beds of clay at depths from 140 to 
216 feet, it means that a considerable cavity has been worked out round 
the bottom of the bore. The more sand that is brought up, the greater 
this will become, and the weight of a long column of 10-in. tubes, with no 
lateral support, is a serious matter. While the clays remain intact, these 
rods will have a certain amount of their weight relieved, owing to the 
swelling of the clay. It is this swelling which has wholly or partially 
caused the large tubes to become fast, thus preventing the column from 
being forced down lower than 277 feet. But should this clay give way, 
owing to the collapse of the immediately underlying sands, and the water 
pressure continue as great as at present, there is a probability of the over- 
lying sand also collapsing around the bore-hole into the cavity and being 
washed out. Thus the creep may continue until the surface sags, and 
damages the town baths, and possibly the w r ater tower. The matter, 
therefore, has possiblv a serious aspect.* 
I understand that the object of the bore is to get sufficient water to fill, 
for ornamental purposes, a local depression called Lake Gutheridge, and 
that the water is not required for domestic use. Quality, therefore, is 
not of great importance. The water is charged with sulphuretted hydro¬ 
gen wffiich gives it an unpleasant odour, but this will disappear on expo¬ 
sure to air. The supply now obtained will, in a short time, fill the lake, 
should the present rate of discharge be maintained. The Borough Council 
of Sale hopes, by deeper boring, to reach a bed of gravel with purer water 
and less discharge of solid matter. It is difficult to offer any suggestion 
on this point. There is no complete record of the strata passed through 
in a bore sunk close by for the council by a private firm in 1884. It is 
said that this bore was 301 feet deep, and that the w r ater just flow r ed over 
the surface. In an endeavour to go deeper, the whole of the supply w-as 
lost, from what cause I have not been able to ascertain. I obtained the 
* Early in May, 1906, the ground around the mouth of this bore did actually fall in. leaving- a hole 
feet in diameter and 30 feet deep. This has been filled up by the council. As the discharge of sand and 
water from the bore almost entirely ceased shortly after my visit, on the bore being sunk deeper, there is- 
no likelihood of any further subsidence here.—A. E. K., 5.10.06. 
