Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/56

40 manner. Not more than three or four years before our visit, the colonists suffered severely from one of those visitations, and a famine of bread, and still more a scarcity of water, were dreaded. The four pound loaf was sold for two shillings and eightpence, and the Commanding officer of Engineers reported that there was not at one time in reality a larger quantity of water in the reservoir than was sufficient for seven days' consumption. The extreme sandiness of the soil, and total absence of springs are great disadvantages; but the measures which Sir George Gipps has adopted, of damming up the small watercourses when filled by the winter floods, will provide a supply for the whole summer season, and prevent the recurrence of so much distress in future. He told me, that, during the drought of 1838, a gentleman from the interior rode his horse forty miles without being able to give him a drink, and had eventually to pay half-a-crown, at an inn on the road, for less than a quart of water.

I regretted extremely that it was not in my power to see more of the present condition and resources of the colony: the constant attendance at the observatory, and the unfavourable weather, prevented my making any excursions into the country, or indeed seeing either the town or public buildings to advantage.

The first appearance of the colony impresses the mind with wonder and admiration; and it seems hardly possible to imagine that little more than fifty years have elapsed since a "howling