20 Introduction: Seasons and Winds. 



China Sea, brings the season of most rain to Borneo north of the equator, 

 though the climate of that country is moist at all times of the year. The Sooloo 

 Islands and the southern and western parts of the Philippines have now their 

 rainy season. See Map III. 



During the other half-year, October to April, the N.E. Monsoon is operative 

 and reverses the work of the S.W. jSIonsoon. Laden with moisture taken up 

 in the Pacific it deposits much of it on the northern and eastern parts of the 

 Philippines, and, on arriving in Borneo north of the equator, does not bring 

 with it so much rain as the S.W. Monsoon. In the Siamese Peninsula, Annam, 

 facing the wind, now has plentiful rains, but on the opposite side Siam and 

 Cambodia have their finest time of year: "at this time the sky is frequently 

 unclouded for a week together", but the wind again becomes saturated in pass- 

 ing over the Gulf of Siam , and on the opposite coast along the eastern shore 

 of the Malay Peninsula "the weather is wet and stormy". 



The Rains: south of the equator. — In the parts of the Archipelago lying 

 south of the equator the S.E. Trade- wind — here called the S.E. Monsoon — 

 is the prevailing wind from April till October. Blowing from out of the arid 

 deserts of Australia, it leaves the north coast of that country hot and dry, and 

 has not time to take up much vapour before it reaches Timor and the chain 

 of islands stretching between there and Java. Consequently these islands have 

 now their dry season, and the vegetation of Timor — which country is probably 

 the driest of all — is said by Wallace to have an aspect strikingly similar to 

 the Australian. Before reaching the west end of Java the S.E. Monsoon, having 

 passed over a wide stretch of ocean, has gathered moistui'e, and this part of the 

 island now receives ample quantities of rain, though not in such abundance as 

 is the case there dui'ing the returning N.W. Monsoon, which is the bad season, 

 and the vegetation here is consequently most luxuriant. The same holds good 

 even in a still greater degree for the west coast of Sumatra south of the 

 equator, where there is still less difference between the two seasons. During 

 this Monsoon it is also the fine season in South Borneo and in almost the whole 

 of Celebes; but further east this is now no longer the case. The winds that 

 reach the shores of the Gulf of Tomaiki in East Celebes, the southern coasts 

 of Burn and Coram, the Islands of Kei and Aru, the S. W. Coast of New 

 Guinea, etc., pass from the South Pacific Ocean either through the Torres 

 Straits or over the Cape York Peninsula across the Gulf of Carpentaria; thus, 

 there are no broad lands in the way to receive their- moisture until they reach 

 the above-mentioned territories, which now have their rainy season. The high 

 mountain-chains of New Guinea and the ranges which intersect the islands of 

 Ceram and Burn serve to retain the clouds brought up by this Monsoon, and 

 here again occurs the phenomenon of the rainy season on the south side of an 

 island and the fine season on the north. 



These conditions are reversed during the counter Monsoon, the N.W. Monsoon, 

 which predominates from October to April in the Archipelago south of the 



