RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURE 197 



may be sought in the fact that the heavily 

 charged atmosphere, moving northwards as the 

 monsoon follows the retreating sun, precipitates 

 its moisture copiously in the cool-lying southern 

 latitudes, meeting fewer cooling currents as the 

 heated northern regions are entered. From the 

 foregoing tables it is seen that a corresponding 

 generalization cannot be applied to the Mozam- 

 bique coast, which is watered by easterly winds. 

 We are without any complete records from the 

 Nyassaland Company's territory, so are compelled 

 to leave that out of account in the present 

 survey. The most northerly district of which 

 we treat, namely Mozambique, and the most 

 southerly, Lourenzo Marques, have the lowest 

 rainfalls, almost identical in quantity. The 

 average for Mozambique Island for the five 

 years 1901-5 was 26*04 inches, that of Lourenzo 

 Marques for thirteen years 27*51 inches, a dif- 

 ference only 1*47 inches in favour of Lourenzo 

 Marques, as far as these unequal periods go. 

 Evidently latitude has no influence upon the 

 quantity of rainfall in this Province, as it has 

 in the region of the monsoon. 



Quelimane, the garden of the coast, has the 

 greatest rainfall, some of its readings being truly 

 tropical. It is a land of rivers and mountains. 

 Next in order, as far as the year 1910 is any guide, 



