140 AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 



same system) is in a position to furnish daily accounts of meteorologi- 

 cal phenomena which occur over most of the continent that can be 

 regarded as authentic. The record of the rainfall dates back as far as 

 1839, when it was commenced by the late Sir George Kingston, formerly 

 speaker of the house of assembly, and who kept it up till within a 

 very short period of his death, in 1880. The record at the observatory 

 was commenced in 1856, since when its operations have been gradually 

 extended all over the province, so that its meteorological arrangements 

 are as complete as it has been possible to make them. 



The postmaster-general and astronomer to the colony published in 

 1876 a paper which gave interesting particulars of the climatic pecu- 

 liarities of south Australia, as well as a detailed account of the observ- 

 atory and its appliances. Since the publication of that memoir the 

 climate of the colony has not sensibly changed. There have been 

 irregularities in the seasons, or rather irregularities in the special 

 phenomena of those seasons, especially of late years, which should, if 

 duly weighed by those who are interested in the culture of the land, 

 whether as fruit-growers, vignerons, market gardeners, or producers 

 of grain, largely influence the horticulture and agriculture of the 

 future. 



In the memoir on the climate which has been referred to Mr. Todd 

 says: 



The observations at the observatory satisfactorily represent the climate of the 

 plains for some distance north and south of Adelaide, but in the Mount Lofty 

 ranges, close by, the citizens can in an hour or two find a much lower temperature, 

 and twenty minutes by, railway will carry them to the invigorating breezes of the 

 gulf; and, except when kept back by strong easterly and northerly winds, the sea 

 breeze sets in soon after 10 a. m. and sweeps across the plains, tempering the heat 

 during what would otherwise be the hottest hours of the day. 



The hottest months in the year are December, January, and February, when the 

 temperature on the plains frequently exceeds 100 in the shade. November and March 

 are also hot; but the nights, especially in the former month, are cooler, and the heat 

 is seldom of long duration, rarely reaching 100 in the shade, and, coming in suddenly 

 with a strong hot wind, is followed quickly by a change to cool, or even cold, 

 weather. A few hot days occasionally occur in October ; but, even in the hottest 

 months, especially in December, the weather is often broken by cloudy cold inter- 

 vals, with strong southwest winds, veering gradually to south and southeast. This 

 state of things will continue for several days, during which the wind from the south- 

 east will usually freshen towards sunset, a bank of cloud forming over the Mount 

 Lofty ranges, with cold nights, the temperature falling rapidly after sunset. The 

 duration of these southeastern winds appears to depend upon the weather on the 

 eastern coast, and the presence of the bank of cloud on the ranges, and the persist- 

 ence and force of the wind, often indicate gales and rain on the coasts of New South 

 Wales and Queensland, although the weather here may be fine and clear overhead. 

 As the easterly wind moderates it gradually hauls to the north, and alternate land 

 (easterly) and sea (southwesterly) breezes set in with fine weather, getting warmer 

 and warmer, till another spell of extreme heat is experienced. The heat is some- 

 times followed by rain, especially in the earlier part of the season, setting in with 

 the surface and light wind at northeast, but the upper current northwest. This is 

 usually presaged by aggregations of cirro-cumuli, which close up and form a bank 



