Friday October 5th, 1866 was reported to be wet, wild and wintry. The rain had started the previous afternoon and increased in intensity overnight then rained unremittingly all day. The Australasian reported The wind all day blew strongly from the south and south-west. The temperature was very chilly. A dense canopy of moist-looking clouds hung low, rapidly drifting from the south-ward. The streets were almost deserted, traffic almost wholly suspended, and the cold heavy driving rain was ceaselessly falling. The level of the river had risen about four feet in the early part of yesterday morning, and as no symptom of improvement in the weather could be discerned, the most serious apprehension of a disastrous flood began to be entertained by those inhabitants of the low river flats, whose residences were liable to suffer by an inundation. As the day advanced the banks were in many parts submerged by the turbid stream, the various lagoons flanking the river sides were flooded, their extent was rapidly expanded, and the yellow flood in several localities began to encroach rapidly and widely over the green flats.

Of course, the river being the Yarra, it had a number of creeks and other waterways running into it, so adding to the residents of Melbourne’s woes. Those living along those creeks and waterways were also heavily impacted by the floodwaters.

At Heidelberg the river rose very fast, many of the farms on its banks were soon completely covered with water, and the inhabitants of the houses on the race-course commenced to move their goods to higher ground, as it was computed last evening that six hours more rain would cause the flood to rise as high as on the memorable occasion of December, 1863. Messrs. Fanning and Hobson had some remarkably fine crops of wheat and oats growing on the flats, but they have been submerged and quite destroyed. The garden of Mr. Ricardo, at Bulleen, is also flooded, and will suffer considerably. In consequence of the Diamond Creek bridge having been rendered impassable, the mailman had to return. The Plenty was bank high at noon, and it was feared that the Wood’s Point mail would not be able to reach town last night.

The Herald’s headline read YESTERDAY’S GALE. The Plenty River and the Merri and Darebin Creeks are higher than they have been for a considerable time, while the Diamond Creek was yesterday rendered altogether impassable by reason of the heavy floods. If all the tributaries be swollen to a like extent, there is every reason to fear that we shall be visited by heavy floods in the course of the next few days. At Heidelberg the market gardeners and occupiers of land in the immediate vicinity of the Yarra have suffered from the effects of the gales. Last night the atmosphere continued thick and hazy, and the glass denoted a continuance of dirty weather. The wind had not abated, and until it changes from its south-westerly quarter there is very little prospect of a break in the weather, or a diminution of the flood-waters.

A further impact on our community was in the aftermath of the murder of Henry Hurst at Allwood.

An inquest was appointed to be held upon his body yesterday, but on the coroner, Mr. Candler, and Mr. Superintendent Hare, proceeding to Eltham, they were prevented going further than the Diamond Creek bridge, on account of the unfavourable and flooded state of the roads. The inquest was there-fore postponed until Monday.

The adjourned inquest touching the death of Henry Facey Hurst, who was shot at his father’s station, at Diamond Creek, on the 4th inst., by Robert Burke, the New South Wales bushranger, was resumed and concluded yesterday. The result was a verdict of wilful murder against Burke, who has, accordingly, been committed to take his trial on the capital charge on the 15th of next month. The most important portion of yesterday’s proceedings consisted of a voluntary statement by the accused in which he admits all the material facts alleged on behalf of the Crown. The statement appears at length in another column. The investigation of yesterday took place at the Diamond Reef Hotel, Diamond Creek.