The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-16
A QUEER AUSTRALIAN LAKE.
LOST TO SIGHT ron YEARS AND
THEN APPEARS AGAIN.
Thousands Of Sheep and Cattle Pasture in
Its He'd at Times Then the Australian
Settlers Have to Flee before the
Rising waters Game Birds and Fish

iaAh' 49,
South Wales, Australia. has no outlet ex-
cept evaporation. For a series OF years.
the brooks that tumble down the mountains
which edge the lake may steadily contribute
TO it a larger quantity Of water than Is
evaporated from it's surface.
Then the lake steadily rises. The water
pushes north and south until the lake is
twenty-one miles or more in length with a
width Of seven or eight miles.
For another series Of years the water
brought by the brooks may be steadily
smaller than the quantity evaporated
Then the lake begins to fall, shrinking In
a few years to half its former dimensions,
this process going on sometimes till AXE
George entirely disappears except for a
few water holes in the lowest parts Of its
bed. The lake was in food during 1891
extending north and south for twenty
one miles with a depth Of twelve feet
Twice in the last century thousands of
sheep and cattle were pastured on large
areas now covered with water. They were
the most numerous representatives there
of the larger forms Of animal life just as
fish and water fowl are to-day,
The cabins of the stock raisers or
squatters. as they are called, were scattered
v lHt 'tk'NopiN' "'''
raised and patches OF wheat So little
was known of Lake George in those days
that the herders really had a feeling OF
security and permanency; but the day
came when the rising waters swished aroun
the cabins, drowned some Of the stock and
drove the squatters to the highlands.
Everybody knows now that the bed OF
Lake George offers a very uncertain tenure
- .,,,lar, ula, Z, oo,,aa int xiau n 1aip
perhaps no attempt will be made TO utilize
it on so large a scale as was done In the
1905 and '4Os of the last century.
Tn lake. which is about $50 miles south
west Of Sydney, near the south end Of the
Blue Mountains, was for many years almost
inaccessible among the wilds hat hem II in.
but now a branch Of the railroad between
Sydney and Melbourne skirts its eastern
shore. Many sportsmen alight at the
%neighboring station for a season OF fishing
or shooting.
The Incredible number Of ducks, swans,
pelicans and other water fowl makes the
lake one Of the finest shooting resorts
In New South Wales The birds ave few
such opportunities in the almost lakeless
continent and they make the most OF this
basin when IL is worthy TO be called a lake.
Az an tleNdtlOu OF over sow lttN' uDb lndHN
lakes outside OF Africa and inner Asia
are so high above the sea.
The lake lies at the lower end Of a basin
so walled in by mountains and hills that
| the drainage into il has no chance to escape
to the sea. 1t was long before this fact
was discovered. Some early maps show
Lake George as the probable source OF a
small river known on the coast; but a care
ul survey finally revealed the fact that not
a drop of water escapes from the basin
except to the clouds.
The native blacks have always regarded
it with superstitious dread. When they
piloted the first exploring party TO the
lake in 1920 the first reports Of its exist
ence came from the blacks in 1919 a splendid
sheet of water was found.
The whites we're first perplexed and then
amused by the stories the natives told
them. One old woman said she had seen
a time when there was no lake, but many
trees were growing over the place now
covered with water: others reported that
sometimes the lake disappeared and a num-
Der of little ponds occupied its place; still
others affirmed that all OF the water some
times sank through the bottom and nothing
was to be seen but dry land.
IL was wears DelOTe II was ulsCONeTeu
that the natives had been trying to tell,
In their imperfect way, of phenomena that
mystifed them. II all seemed very I'M
canny to the poor blacks. who feared the
lake and usually avoided il.
Eighteen years elapsed after the white
settlers became acquainted with the lake
before its waters entirely disappeared,
In 1888 and 1889 the surface Of the lake bed
was dry and firm.
The period bet ween 1888 and 1851 was
the heyday Of the pastoral industry; parts
of the bed af orded the richest OF pasture
lands. tens Of thousands OF acres being
devoted to grazing. Cart roads connecting
the ranches extended across the bottom
in all directions.
In these fourteen years the lake was
not entirely dry excepting in 1880 and
is48-'4e, and even in those years a few
water holes and swamps were found on
tho lower levels. The lake retains all
the mineral substances brought TO It by
the brooks that veal away the granite
and other rocks OF the mountains.
When the lake il shallow or nothing but
swamps and ponds. its waters are not
potable. The only drawback of which
the herders complained was that they had
10 maui water from Ine iOOL u ms HOufl-
tains to their cabins. the contents of the
water holes being too salt for use; but
when the basin is filed the water is only
slightly brackish and may be used for
many purposes.
1t was a strange sight TO see rich mea-
dows stretching away where only a water
eSpanse had been visible a few years before
The boundaries of these grazing lands,
however. kept changing from year TO year
AZ the waters advanced or receded
The mountain feeders greatly increased
their contribution Of water about 1850,
when one-sixth OF the bottom became
covered, and two years later Lake George
was seven-eighths of its present size and
eleven feet deep. A little water spread
over the bed was enough to spoil tho
grazing. The herders often retreated
hastily from meadows that were turning
into bogs. They sought higher and drier
grounds, till finally they were driven out
of the basin entirely.
Since is49 the lake has never been wholly
dry. II varies much in size, sometimes