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Flounders were numerous in all the bays where a tidal stream entered, and were taken in large numbers by torch and spear. They disappeared many years ago, and I do not know of any bay on the Peninsula where they can be procured in this way.
Climate has certainly undergone a considerable change in Canterbury within my recollection. In the decade 1840 to 1850 the quarter from which we got the most rain was the south-west. It came in what we called “busters,” and each downfall lasted invariably three days. Our rainfall then, and even up to 1870, was heavier than now. At the present time a good deal of our rain comes from the east (E. N.E., and S.E.). To read Captain Hempelmann’s diary is to get evidence of the greater rainfall during the “thirties” and “forties” than we have to-day. His log shows an astonishing number of wet days when his boats could not go out and fish, especially during the autumn.
I often wonder if the dense bush that covered the Peninsula at that early period had an influence (now lost by its destruction) in attracting rain. The west coast of both Islands has always had more rain than the east coast.
