of the Equatorial Regions. 141 



Batavia, 

 Cumana, 



we have 



Pondicherry, 



Madras, 



Manilla, - - 



Senegal, 



Bombay, 



Macao, 



Rio Janeiro, 



The Havanna, 



And after the observations of Pereira, 



Maranham, - 2° 29' S. 81° 32 



It appears to result from these data, that the only place in 

 the equinoctial region whose mean temperature exceeds 81° 

 86, is situated in 1&° latitude. This is Pondicherry, whose 

 climate can no more serve to characterise the equatorial re- 

 gion than the Oasis of Mourzouk, where the unfortunate 

 Ritchie and Captain Lyon assure us that they saw, during 

 whole months, (perhaps from the sand disseminated in the 

 air,) the thermometer at 117° and 128°, can characterise the 

 climate of the temperate zone in the north of Africa. The 

 greatest mass of tropical land is situated between 18° and £8° 

 of north lat., and it is in that zone also, thanks to the esta- 

 blishment of so many rich commercial towns, that we possess 

 most meteorological knowledge. The three or four degrees 

 nearest to the equator are a terra incognita for climatology. 

 We are still ignorant of the mean temperatures of Grand 

 Para, Guayaquil, and even Cayenne. 



When we consider only the heat attained in a particular 

 part of the year, we find in the northern hemisphere the most 

 scorching climates under the tropic itself, and a little beyond it. 

 At Abusheer, for example, in lat. 28 J°, the mean temperature 

 of the month of July is 93° % In the Red Sea we find the 

 thermometer at noon at 131°, and in the night at 109°. At 

 Benares, lat. 25° 20', the heat reaches in summer 1 31°, whilst 

 it descends in winter to 46° 96. These observations in India 



