188 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
according to a table supplied to me by the Meteorological Office of 
Canada, as follows: — 


: o 
oo 
2 ° vo r re . = 
ST. ANDREWS. | £ | 4 SMART) À | a | s Eten 
Sie |e |<IS|5|6l1413/16|2) à | 4 
Mean highest...... 30°0| 29°8, 36:548:4/59-1167-673-3/71:664 9153-7440) 342) 51:1 
Mean lowest....... 10:0| 10°4) 20:0/29:6/38-947:2/52-0/52847:2/37:527 9] 14:4] 32:3 

Mean temperature.| 20°0) 20°1 283 39°0/49:0/57:4162:7162 256 0145:636:0) 24°3) 41°7 
Mean daily range..| 20°0} 19°4) 16 518°&/20:2/20:4/21'3118 817 7116 216'1| 19°8 18°8 
Absolutely highest) 53°3 ‘oa 49° 8/67 7/86 "6/87 6|92°7/89°6)\81°1]73°6)61°7| 549 92°7 
Absolutely lowest.|—19°4]—18°1|\— 2:4] 9°6/29°3)37°6/45° 2/44: 2)33°0)20 3) 3°1;—14°4|—19°4 
Percent. of cloud..| 46 47 51 | 45 | 46 | 42 | 44 | 42 | 40 | 47 | 51 | 50 46 
Precipitation (inch), 4°25] 3°86 Be Repos 208228 bosses 3°76} 40°16 



From these figures it will be plain that the summer climate is 
always cool! with much sunshine and a moderate amount of rain. — 
The winter, likewise, is generally moderate, though it may at times 
become severe. Often the winters are so mild that little ice forms 
in the vicinity of the island; but at times they become so severe 
that much ice forms over the nearly pure salt water about the island, 
and it occasionally, though very rarely, happens that a complete ice 
bridge, across which one can walk, forms from the island to the shore 
at Red Beach, and there are all gradations between these extremes. 
It not infrequently happens that the floating ice makes it difficult or 
even unsafe to cross from the island in a small boat, especially when 
there is any wind. 
As to other features of the climate, there is occasional fog in 
summer, though not in winter. The precipitation of over 40 inches 
is a fair amount for a temperate region. 
The importance of these facts to our present subject lies in the 
effect of the climate upon the settlement of de Monts in 1604. The 
full account of that winter left us by Champlain and Lescarbot, and 
given later in this paper, shows that it must have been one of marked, 
1 The coolness of the summer above-mentioned is due in part at least to 
the coldness of the surrounding sea water throughout the summer. No figures 
are available, but it is a fact that the water is always much too cold for 
comfortable bathing, so I presume it does not rise above 50°F. The coldness 
is due primarily to the depth of the neighbouring waters in combination with 
the strength of the tidal currents, which continually stir up the colder bottom 
water, thus preventing the warming up of the surface. And this is perhaps 
aided through the bringing in by the tides of the cold currents descending 
from the north along the Nova Scotia coast. 
