xix THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS 213 



the islands, a small fraction of what it was a hundred years ago. 

 It is, however, very satisfactory to learn that American energy 

 is now combating this evil. Already in the January number of the 

 same journal is to be found a report by Mr. W. L. Hall, of the 

 Bureau of Forestry, on " The Forests of Hawaii"; and now, under 

 the charge of Mr. Jared G. Smith, institutions have been formed 

 and experiment stations have been established for "the intelligent 

 and skilful cultivation of the soil." Hawaii owes much to the 

 United States Department of Agriculture. May we in England 

 take the cue in the case of our own Crown colonies ! 



Under these circumstances the comparison of the present rain- 

 fall of Hawaii must be carried out with discrimination. But it may 

 be at once observed that to make a contrast in detail between the 

 rainfalls of these three groups is quite beyond the province of this 

 work ; and this remark applies also to the other observations on the 

 climatic conditions. I can only treat the subject in an illustrative 

 fashion in connection with the general subject of their floras. 



Thanks to Professor Lyons, the Government meteorologist, the 

 rainfall has long been systematically investigated. It may be said 

 to range anywhere between 10 and 300 inches. As in most groups 

 within the trade-wind belts, there is a great contrast in the rainfall 

 between the weather and leeward sides of the islands, which is well 

 exhibited in the large island of Hawaii. Whilst in the Hilo 

 district on the wet side of the island the annual rainfall near the 

 coast is about 120 inches, on the Kona coast of the dry side of the 

 island it may be anything between 20 and 50 inches and it may fall 

 to less than 10. The effect of elevation is, however, evident on both 

 the weather and lee sides of the island. Thus at a height of 1,650 

 feet in the Hilo district it is as much as 180 inches, and at a greater 

 elevation 210 inches. At a height of about 1,600 feet at Keala- 

 kekua, on the dry side of the island the average yearly rainfall, 

 according to the results kindly supplied to me by the Rev. 

 S. H. Davis, was for the six years, 1891-6, 60 inches. On the 

 beach, as he says, it is " very much less," probably not 30 inches. 

 Dr. Maxwell, in his report on " Irrigation in Hawaii," mentions a 

 locality in Maui where the rainfall at the sea-shore was 28 inches, and 

 at a height of 2,800 feet up the mountain side as much as 179 inches. 

 In the region of the cloud-belt, which coincides with that of the 

 forest-zone on the slopes of the great mountains of Hawaii and 

 extends up from about 3,000 to 7,000 or 8,000 feet above the sea, 

 the average annual rainfall would probably be rarely under 200 

 inches, and in some localities it might approach 300 inches. There 



