LYELL DISTRICT.

; — *. (From our own Correspondent.) The old adage thai, it never rains but it pours has been illustrated with a vengeance during the last three weeks by a succession of floods of unusual height, winch rolled down the Inangahua and Buller rivers, carrying destruction in their onward course to the unfortu nate settlers, who, by years of hard work and patient industry clear and cul ivate portions of this howling wilderness, only to witness their crop and portious of their land being swept down the river, and swallowed up as ?tfeiftgSfaf^ft^ ersarethe {"iilcoek Bros., who had numbers of their sheep washed away, as well as a large paddock of oats, which had been cut down the previous week, and was nearly ready tv stack. Messrs O'Rcgan and Archer, at the Landing, also suffered serious injury, the water backing several feet high over their crops. Lower down the valley serious dam* asje was caused. The Buller river rose about thirty feet above summer level, hacking the water of the Inangahua on* to Christy's ground, flooding his orchard and paddocks. He is said to have lost some stock, and had over a ton of apples, of a very choice kind, washed away, his orchard being one of the finest on the Coaßt. At Courtney's, at the Junction of the two rivers, the flood washed away his fence, flooded, and destroyed about fifteen tons of potatoes, and doing damage to the extent of £100. Lower down Job Lines suffered damage to about- the sair.e exteut, the Buller rising about ten feet over a paddock of growing oats, completely ruining it, and sweeping down the river a large stack of oats. In fact the whole of the settlers up and down thfi river are sufferers to a serious extent. The Licensed houses along the road mioht as well; be closed, owing to the damage done 60 the road. All traffic is stopped, the only business doing being in assisting sundowners, who seem to be an established calamity along the road. The first mail came through on horse 1 back to-day, there being none for the last month, Hall and Co. are heavy losers by the floods. Their coach line is the best organised and most punctual service that has ever been on the J road.