Ong Hock Thye FJ:

This is an appeal against the judgment of Gill J holding the appellants liable for damages under the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher [1865-6], LR 1 Ex 265; 19 LT 221.

It has fallen on me to lead off with this judgment, although I should have preferred to inform myself first of the judgments of my abler, learned colleagues I shall, therefore, concentrate mainly on the questions of fact which in my opinion are sufficient for the determination of this appeal and leave it to them to dilate on the questions of law.

There is practically no controversy as to the primary facts. The appellants, for the purposes of their dredge-mining operations, maintained on their lands large ponds or reservoirs of water which were separated from each other by intermediate bunds, with one perimeter bund enclosing all these bodies of water. By means of spillways, the flow of water from one pond to another, as well as its ultimate discharge into a river, was regulated and the water-level of each pond maintained as desired. We are here concerned only with two ponds, designated as P1 and P2, and with the bund separating them, referred to as bund A.

The topography of the appellants' la