90 SPECIES OF RHOBODENDEON INHABITING BOENEO. 



by incessant thunderstorms, which deposit large stores of nitro- 

 gen upon every branch and every leaf. 



In this view of their nature, it may be conjectured that the 

 Malay Rhododendrons will grow under the usual treatment of a 

 damp stove, provided the soil in whiclx they are potted is chiefly 

 composed of loose decayed vegetable materials, such as half and 

 wholly rotten leaves and sticks. It will also be important to 

 consider whether in resting them, it will be requisite to do more 

 than slightly lower their temperature, and diminish, without 

 withholding, the moisture which they appear to require. From 

 the statements of Mr. Low, it would appear that Rhododendron 

 gracile is perpetually in bloom, a circumstance that leads to the 

 inference that a season of rest must be almost unknown to it. 



Unfortunately we have no tolerable account of the details of 

 the Bornean climate : the temperature of the soil, or the data 

 from which it could be computed, the amount of atmospheric 

 moisture, the relation which the cold of night bears to the heat 

 of day, the rate at which temperature fluctuates, are all matters 

 upon which information is wanted. In the meanwhile, Mr. 

 Low's Sarawak must be taken as our best guide in the inquiry ; 

 and with the following extracts from his work, the present me- 

 morandum may be closed. 



" The climate of Borneo, like that of most of the eastern 

 islands, has been found exceedingly healthy to persons whose 

 avocations do not render great exposure necessary. The north- 

 east monsoon, or that which blows from April to October, is the 

 rainy period ; but a day rarely passes during the south-west or 

 fine monsoon, without a refreshing shower ; this with the con- 

 stant warmth, causes everything to grow during the whole year, 

 the forests being clothed with a perpetual verdure, which gives 

 the islands, wdien seen from the sea, a beautiful appearance, pos- 

 sessed by no country in the world to so great an extent ; shrubs 

 (Hibiscus) and flowering trees (Barringtonia) always overhang- 

 ing the margin of the ocean, and the inland mountains are ob- 

 served covered to their summits with a dense and luxuriant 

 vegetation. 



" In temperature it has never been found by Europeans to be 

 oppressively hot ; the thermometer generally averaging 70° to 

 72' Fahrenheit in the mornings and evenings, and 82° to 8.")° at 

 2 P.M., which is generally the hottest part of the day ; and 

 though in the dry season the mercury has sometimes ascended as 

 high as 92°, and occasionally 93°, it has not been felt so in- 

 conveniently oppressive to Europeans as a hot summer day in 

 England."— p. 3L 



" Though the vegetation of no country in the world is so lux- 

 uriant as that of the eastern islands, it has been proved by many 



