264 



ZONES AND REGIONS [Pt. Ill, Sect. I 



338 cm.; Saigon, 211 cm.; Killing in Formosa, 305 cm. — in Africa: 

 Kamerun, 388cm.; Gabun, 226 cm.; Sierra Leone, 319 cm. — in America: 

 North-East Jamaica, 281 cm. ; Hayti (Sanchez), 206 cm. ; Colon, 289 cm. ; 

 Georgetown (British Guiana), 214cm.; Paramaribo, 228 cm.; Bahia, 229 

 cm. ; Santos, 250 cm. — in Australia: Cape York (North Australia), 220 cm. ; 

 Papeete (Tahiti), 218 cm.; Samoa (Utumapu), 212 cm. At certain spots 

 in the districts of tropical high-forest we find the rainfall as low as about 

 150 cm., but no lower. Only on the Amazon are rainfalls of 200 cm. and 

 more the exception ; there the forest owes its luxuriant growth to the 

 water in the soil, and it consequently does not form an extensive continuous 

 area, but is confined to the river-banks. 



The distribution of precipitation throughout the months of the year may 

 be given in millimeters for a few non-Malayan stations in the district of the 

 tropical high-forest : — 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE RAINFALL THROUGHOUT THE MONTHS OF 

 THE YEAR IN MILLIMETERS IN SOME NON-MALAYAN STATIONS. 



In tropical districts with precipitations at all seasons the forest is evergreen, 

 and is developed as rain-forest. In districts with a marked dry season the 

 forest is either less rich in foliage during the dry season, for instance in East 

 Java, or is defoliated like typical monsoon-forest, for instance in the greater 

 part of Cis-gangetic India. 



The meteorological data at my disposal do not permit of a very precise 

 statement of the conditions that occasion the leaf-fall in the greater 

 part of Cis-gangetic India. Besides the distribution of the rain, other 

 factors certainly intervene, such as quantity of rainfall, temperature, and 

 humidity of the air. 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE RAINFALL PER MONTH IN MILLIMETERS 

 IN CIS-GANGETIC INDIA. 



Ratnagiri on the west coast of Cis-gangetic India, at the foot of the Ghats, is 

 situated in a district where the forests are leafless in the dry season. The table 

 shows that the dry season is far more marked than in the Malayan forest-district, 



