The Nor'-Wester Is First Descried On The River-Bed.
Through the door of
my hut, from which the snowy range is visible, at our early breakfast, I
see
A lovely summer's morning, breathlessly quiet, and intensely hot.
Suddenly a little cloud of dust is driven down the river-bed a mile and
a half off; it increases, till one would think the river was on fire,
and that the opposite mountains were obscured by volumes of smoke.
Still it is calm with us. By and by, as the day increases, the wind
gathers strength, and, extending beyond the river-bed, gives the flats
on either side a benefit; then it catches the downs, and generally blows
hard till four or five o'clock, when it calms down, and is followed by a
cool and tranquil night, delightful to every sense. If, however, the
wind does not cease, and it has been raining up the gorges, there will
be a fresh; and, if the rain has come down any distance from the main
range, it will be a heavy fresh; while if there has been a clap or two
of thunder (a very rare occurrence), it will be a fresh in which the
river will not be fordable. The floods come and go with great rapidity.
The river will begin to rise a very few hours after the rain commences,
and will generally have subsided to its former level about forty-eight
hours after the rain has ceased.
As we generally come in for the tail-end of the nor'-western rains, so
we sometimes, though less frequently, get that of the sou'-west winds
also.
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