198 REPORT OF THE RAIN GAUGES. 
Much as it is to be regretted, that so many 
years should have been expended in making ob- 
servations, which have failed to determine the 
question for which they were first commenced ; it 
is some satisfaction to find, that an approximate 
result, probably not far from the truth, may 
be obtained from the ratio which the relative 
observations during the past year bear to each 
other. 
The limits within which the variation of this 
ratio is confined, are much narrower than might 
have been anticipated, For the summit of the 
hills and the westerly side, (being that most ex- 
posed to those winds which are generally accom- 
panied by rain,) the proportion may be taken as 
two to three, and for the easterly side of the 
summit at about six to eight. 
Applying these proportions to the average fall 
of rain, as registered by the Company’s gauges, 
we should be justified in assuming the following 
quantities, as about the depth which would, 
‘in average years, reach the surface of the 
ground. 
