As I Think The State Of The Seasons In New South Wales May Serve To
Explain, At Least Partially, Why There Are No Running Streams In
The Western Parts Of It, It May Be Worth While To Make Some Little
Inquiry Into That Subject.
It appears to me that it can never rain
simultaneously westward of the Blue Mountains and on the coast,
for these reasons:
First, That the Lachlan and Macquarie Rivers,
being the sole channels by which the waters falling on the Blue Mountain
range are conveyed westward to the low-lands, are always flooded in
times of great rains in those mountains and on the coast; secondly, that
the winter, that is to say, the period between March and August, is the
time when the rains are most to be expected, and have most generally
fallen on the east coast, and which so falling would naturally cause a
flood in the streams above mentioned; thirdly, that in the summer
season, or from September to February, which is certainly the driest
period of the year, the rains fall westward of the Blue Mountains; but
falling upon flat sandy land without any watercourses, do not in the
smallest degree add to the waters of the Lachlan or Macquarie, which are
then consequently in a state nearly if not entirely stagnant. It is at
this season, therefore, that these streams are visited by the natives,
as they are then enabled to procure the shell and other fish which abound
in them. The tracks and impressions made by the feet of the natives were
certainly made when the ground was very soft and marshy, whilst their
guneahs were merely the branches of trees, and erected in places which we
found to be swamps, but which in summer would, in comparison with the
plains, be dry ground, the waters from them being drained off into
the river.
The Blue Mountain range is by far the highest in New South Wales; the
ranges westerly, though high when viewed from the low grounds from which
they rise, cannot in any respect be compared with them.
In the summer, the north-east and south-east winds coming from the sea
are forced over these mountains, and the vapours with which they are
charged are attracted by the lower ranges westerly, and converted into
rain. In the winter, the prevailing winds on the coast and inland, as is
evident from the trees on the tops of the hills, are from south-west to
north-west. In the winter, these westerly winds blowing over a vast
extent of country, and coming with great violence on the Blue Mountains,
confine those clouds and vapours which would occasion rain, to the
vicinity of the coast, and the eastern side of the mountains. A wet
summer on the east coast would occasion a flood in the Lachlan at that
season; and should the rains then be attended with easterly winds,
causing rain on the western side also, the whole low country must be
under water for a double reason.
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