354 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
of Italy; it is not subject to rains, but every morning 
there falls a dew which fertilizes the earth.” None of the 
party make any complaint of the climate; they speak, 
on the contrary, in their notes and memoranda, of the cool, 
dry, and refreshing atmosphere, especially after the western 
breezes set in, which they usually do an hour or two after 
the sun has passed the meridian, and continue till mindight ; 
and when calm in the early part of the day, the sun is said so 
seldom to shine out, that for four or five days together, they 
were unable to get a correct altitude to ascertain the latitude. 
So much, however, depends on locality, that at the place 
where the Congo was moored, the range of the thermometer 
differed very materially from that on board the transport 
lower down, and also from that observed in the upper parts 
of the river. The former vessel was moored in a reach 
surrounded by hills, and what little of the sea breeze 
reached her, had to pass over a low swampy island. Here, 
Mr. M‘Kerrow noticed the range of the thermometer to 
be from 70° to 90° in the shade; sometimes, though but 
seldom, as low as 67° in the night, and as high as 98° at 
noon; and one day on shore it rose to 103° under the 
shade of trees ; at the same time, above Inga, the tempe- 
rature seldom exceeded 76° in the day, and was sometimes 
down to 60° at night. He seems to think, that partly 
‘owing to a better position of the transport, which remained 
alt anchor lower down the river, nearly opposite to the 
Tall Trees, where she had the benefit of the sea breeze with- 
out interruption, and partly by preventing her crew from 
