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tion of this island, describe the weather during that period as severe in the extreme, and speak of floods and storms, of injury done to roads and districts, and interrupted traffic, and the heavy loss sustained by some of the settlers’ flocks.

The gale was not a revolving one, but a pure polar current of great width, extending over at least 20° of longitude, as shown by vessels at sea at the time. The direction varied in places from S.E. to S.W.; S.E. mostly at sea, but S. W. or S. on the Canterbury plains, and in places where the wind was deflected by high lands.

At Christchurch a change of weather was foretold by the rapid and steady fall of the barometer, which reached its lowest point, 29’29 inches, (corrected and reduced at 21 feet above sea) at midday on the 29th July, just as the weather broke. Until the 8th of August the glass continued very low, and rose but little during the long continued southerly weather, a sure sign of continuous and extensive gales. The other instruments showed few indications of any remarkable atmospheric disturbance. On the evening of the 30th July, before the heaviest of the rain and snow, the air was very dry for the time and season; at 9.30 p.m., relative humidity was only 72, vapour tension, .192. The mean temperature of the six days ending August 4th was 41°. 8; mean dew point, 37°. 3, about the lowest on record here for such a period.

Rain fell without ceasing on the 30th and 31st July, and in heavy showers on the 1st and 2nd August; the wind steady at S.W., and blowing hard nearly all the time, with violent squalls. The rainfall during this period was 2.13 inches, but no snow or hail fell in the immediate neighbourhood of the town. On the 30th and 31st July the velocity of the wind registered by Robinson’s gauge was 803 and 328 miles, respectively.

At Lyttelton the force and duration of the gale and the rainfall were nearly similar to Christchurch. The wind blew with great violence only on the 31st July from S.S.W. with heavy rain, which continued with slight intermission during the two following days, accompanied with a strong wind. No injury was done to the ships in the harbour, but some small boats were much damaged as usual with a storm from this quarter.

At Godley Head, Mr. Chapman, principal light-house keeper, reports a hard gale from S.E. with heavy rain and snow from the afternoon of July 29th to the night of August 1st; and from S.W., also with rain and snow, on the 2nd of August. The sea throughout, very high and broken. At sea along the East Coast, south and north, the same hard S.E. gale was experienced during the same four or five days.

At Dunedin, H. Skey, Esq., Meteorological Observer, states that the stormy weather began on the morning of the 29th July, or a few hours earlier than with us, and that more or less rain fell every day following until the 10th August, with gales on the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th, always from S.W. It snowed on the nights of the 4th, 6th, and 8th, the snow melting on the low lands on the following days. The barometer reached its minimum on the 6th August, when it fell to 29.18 (corrected).

From the Bluff, on the extreme south of this island, to Wellington in the north island, the accounts are nearly the same as to the force and duration of the storms. At Wellington especially the weather was exceedingly severe, more so than was known there at any time previous.

Inland in Canterbury, on ascending the plains, the snowfall increased in depth according to the elevation of the country, making its appearance first at an altitude of about 300 feet above the sea level. At 400 to 500 feet above sea level a considerable quantity appears to have fallen, white on the plains around Oxford the ground was at one time covered to a uniform depth of 12 to 14 inches. Along the eastern base of the hills large tracts were covered with upwards of three feet of snow, so that the wire fences were, for a time invisible. Porter Pass was snowed up, and all traffic stopped for about a fortnight, immense drifts of snow having accumulated in many places.

At Timaru, from full accounts kindly supplied by W. Williamson, Esq., the force of wind does not appear to have been very great, but the inclement weather lasted quite so long as at Christchurch, and was remarkable from the fact that snow made its appearance in the town, though only in small quantities, “sufficient to make a snow-ball,” the first time such a phenomenon has been witnessed there since the district was settled. The direction of the wind varied from E. to S.E.; the sea very high and much broken. The low lying ranges at the back of the town were covered with quite a foot of snow and Burke Pass could be crossed with difficulty only by those who knew the road well. Inside the Pass, about Lake Tekapo and the Hakateramea river, the fall of snow was very heavy, while the lower parts of Mackenzie county, and southwards across the Dunstan Range, there appears to have been less than the usual quantity of winter snow, and no loss to sheep. Communication between Timaru and the outlying districts north and south was entirely suspended for a while by the floods, the rivers Pareora and Temuka having risen higher than they were ever known before.

At the Waitangi, on the river Waiau, near the extreme south of the Province, T. E. Parker, Esq., reports that the weather broke there on the 28th July, and that it blew hard with rain and snow alternately until midday, August 2nd. The rivers were much flooded, and much loss was sustained by settlers’ flocks. The rainfall (or melted snow) in that district in the above period of five days was 5.92 inches.

As regards the extent of the gale east and west of New Zealand, many interesting particulars have been supplied by the kindness of Captain Gibson, Port Officer, who consulted masters of vessels, and made extracts from the logs of ships which were at sea at that time, from which the follow-