(原版)澳大利亞語文第四冊(cè) LESSON 29

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LESSON 29 DROUGHTS

DROUGHTS

THERE is scarcely a country in the world that has no drawbacks. Perhaps the snow lies on the ground for six months and checks all out-of-door work. Or it may be that “nine months of the year are winter and the rest bad weather,” as some one wittily said of London. A third disadvantage is found in the extreme heat which affects some tropical climes and renders any work a hardship.

Other countries have poor soil—the land is mostly desert, like the north-central parts of Africa. Other districts may suffer from special causes—frequent earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, or fatal fevers. It rests with mankind to face and conquer all the adverse [1] conditions so as to make life not only tolerable but a delight in every country.

Australia has two of the drawbacks common to most tropical lands—drought and floods. Both of these are gradually being conquered, but there is hardly a settler in the Common- wealth who cannot tell of the ravages caused by drought. At long intervals, as the years roll round, there comes a summer when no rain falls. The heat wastes and dries up the green things on which animal life depends. The days grow to weeks, weeks lengthen to months, autumn passes, winter closes in, and still no rain falls.

Farmers become anxious for the crops which may never be harvested; and are in grave concern about next season’s planting. Graziers are troubled about their stock; water begins to run low; food becomes scarce and rises in price; cattle have to be driven daily long distances to water, and each journey finds them weaker.

The summer comes on and still no rain. “In a continuous journey of four hundred miles inland,” says one writer, “during a time of severe drought, I did not observe a blade of green grass; bush fires prevailed everywhere; the dry and withered grass crumbled in the hand into powder, and the whole was set fire to with the object of preparing the ground for the new grass which was to grow after the expected fall of rain. The heavens were as brass, the earth as iron—the sun and moon had changed their appearance, were as if clad in sackcloth [2] , or red as blood. In consequence of the black vapours, with which the atmosphere was filled, from the bush fires far and near, the sun’s rays, during the height of the day, poured down the most intense heat. The birds on the trees might be seen panting for breath—water, cold, cold water!”

Sometimes the wind blows, but it is a hot blast, and the rain does not come. The nights are bright and clear and warm, but there is no dew, and still the hot wind blows on. It may be succeeded by heavy morning mists, hanging like a cloak over the hills, and filling up the hollows. They roll away as the day advances, and the sun, strong as ever, blazes in the midst of a cloudless sky.

Every now and then promising signs are seen, but the hopes of weary settlers are doomed to disappointment. A black bank of vapour receives the setting sun, and in the east huge clouds swell and roll upwards in the hush of the evening.

Thirsty stock look up and anxious hearts think the drops will descend in the night, but night passes and the morrow is dry as ever. Sometimes two, or even three, summers go by and very little rain falls. The loss to the country is enormous.

How can the evils of drought be avoided? First, by storing up the rain which Heaven sends in abundance in good seasons. By dams, water-holes, and canals much may be done to collect and conserve [3] enough water to tide over the bad times. Secondly, by building new railways, so that, in time of extreme drought, cattle by the thousand may be trucked from waterless rivers to some refuge where water is plentiful. Thirdly, by sinking artesian bores [4] to tap those, “bottled-up rivers” of Queensland, which seem as if by a miracle to be provided expressly to meet an uncertain rain- fall. Fourthly, by conserving fodder, so that food at least could be assured for several years. No matter what were the climatic conditions, even if thousands of cattle could not be saved by this plan, it would at least be possible to save the lives of all the more valuable stock.

AN ARTESIAN BORE

In these four ways, Australians are already learning to balance the seasons. Under ordinary conditions there is no need at all for such provision, and usually a drought is followed by a season so good that all the hardships and losses of the drought are speedily forgotten. But prudent farmers and graziers find that it pays them not to neglect such precautions; and year by year, as settlers learn wisdom, dread Drought is being robbed of his terrors.

—E. W. H. F.

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[1] adverse: Unfavourable.

[2] clad in sackcloth: A phrase used to denote mourning, penitence, or extreme regret: here it refers to the heavy pall of smoke.

[3] conserve: To keep for future use.

[4] artesian bores: Deep holes bored into the ground till water is reached, which then rises to the surface, owing to pressure.