The Force Of The South-West Wind Is Here Broken By The Front Ranges, And
On These It Often Leaves Its Rain Or Snow, While We Are Quite Exempt
From Either.
We frequently hear both of more rain and of more snow on
the plains than we have had, though my hut is at an elevation of 1840
feet above the level of the sea.
On the plains, it will often blow for
forty-eight hours, accompanied by torrents of pelting, pitiless rain,
and is sometimes so violent, that there is hardly any possibility of
making headway against it. Sheep race before it as hard as they can go
helter-skelter, leaving their lambs behind them to shift for themselves.
There is no shelter on the plains, and, unless stopped by the shepherds,
they will drive from one river to the next. The shepherds, therefore,
have a hard time of it, for they must be out till the wind goes down;
and the worse the weather the more absolutely necessary it is that they
should be with the sheep. Different flocks not unfrequently join during
these gales, and the nuisance to both the owners is very great.
In the back country, sheep can always find shelter in the gullies, or
under the lee of the mountain.
We have here been singularly favoured with regard to snow this last
winter, for whereas I was absolutely detained by the snow upon the
plains on my way from Christ Church, because my horse would have had
nothing to eat had I gone on, when I arrived at home I found they had
been all astonishment as to what could possibly have been keeping me so
long away.
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