Home Territories 19 
the winter (in the interior hilly lands south of the Yangtse, 
winters bring frosts). Rainfall amounts to 60 inches on the 
coast and 72 in the interior. Typhoons occur in the summer 
months. The driest period comes during the winter. Heavy 
rains, from 60 to 120 inches, occur in Formosa and south 
Japan. As far west of Kwangtung as Tonkin and as far south 
as 15°, the coastal climate is subtropical to tropical. The climate, 
much like the last, varies from 40° to 100°, and the rainfall 
from 45 to 70 inches, most of which falls between April and 
September. In Hanoi, Tonkin, and Laos the February tempera- 
ture averages as low as 62° and may fall to 40° ; in June it may 
reach as high as 110°. Hainan belongs in this belt. 
Southern Indo-China, southern Laos below 15°, and from 
Cochin-China west through Cambodia and Siam to lower 
Burma are regions subject to the typical monsoon climate of 
that part of southern Asia. The prevailing winds blow from 
April to October from the southwest and from October to April 
from the northeast. There are three "seasons" — the hot season 
from February to April, the rainy season from May to October, 
and the cold season lasting through the remainder of the year. 
Eastern Siam undergoes great heat through the day but may 
become very cool at night. The rainfall of lower French Indo- 
China may exceed 100 inches locally. Most of Siam is some- 
what drier, 40 to 60 inches. 
In the upper part of the Malay Peninsula the temperature is 
relatively mild and equable. Hot, fairly dry weather prevails 
from February to August, and cooler, very rainy weather from 
September to January, with maximum rainfall in December. 
The annual precipitation varies from 60 to 120 inches there 
and in the lower peninsula. 
Most of Burma is tropical except high on the mountains, 
where cold weather and in winter even snow are known. The 
amount of rain that falls is very varied, depending upon the 
part of the country considered. The rain-bringing monsoon 
