THE DROUGHT OF 1863

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21391, 6 February 1935, Page 10

THE DROUGHT OF 1863

♦ COMPARISON WITH PRESENT DAY While the present summer is the hottest recorded since the institution of meteorological observations in Canterbury, old newspaper files reveal that the summer of 1863 was a disastrous one for' station holders. According to one writer of the early days, the drought of 1863 left behind it traces which were long felt. A severe snowstorm, in 1862, was followed by the driest summer within the memory of Canterbury's oldest inhabitant. Day after day passed, and still the scorching heat of the sun continued, often without the relief of the cool nights to which the settlers had grown accustomed. The province was literally burned up from end to end. Wells dried up, creeks ceased to run, and rivers became creeks before one refreshing shower came. Added to this, there were enormous bush fires on the Peninsula, and Christchurch people became accustomed to seeing the sun go down like a fiery crimson ball and the moon rise like a disc of copper through the smoke-haze. At Oxford, Kaiapoi, and Little River also, many thousands of acres of valuable bush were destroyed, and large tracts of grass country swept bare by fire brought a severe loss to station holders, who were not able to find feed for their sheep. After the fires the settlers were treated to two sharp earthquake shocks. The summer of 1879 also brought drought; and curiously, this summer again was preceded by a severe winter with snowstorms which used up several years' profits of the highcountry runholders.