AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. ' 143 



not to be depended upon far south of the tropics. Between those parallels is a 

 wide belt of 5 or 6 having an uncertain rainfall, subject to droughts, very 

 seldom getting rain during the winter, but mostly depending on summer thunder- 

 storms, the frequency and intensity of which, it is not improbable, may be found 

 closely to coincide with the magnetic cycle of eleven and a quarter years, which is 

 believed to determine the frequency of aurorae magnetic storms and solar spots. 

 This, of course, is conjectural, and is not to be accepted till proved by increased 

 experience. 



From the foregoing a tolerably accurate conception of the South 

 Australian climate may be formed. There is one thing, however, which 

 deserves some notice here. In many published articles in newspapers 

 and magazines the hot winds of Australia, and especially of South 

 Australia, have been mentioned in highly colored terms. They have 

 been described as terrific, and have been dwelt upon as though the 

 climate of this province was somewhat worse than tropical. It is quite 

 true that hot winds are not pleasant; in fact, they are enervating, and 

 whilst they last are exceedingly exhausting to persons who are in a 

 feeble state of body ; but they seldom last for more than a few days, and 

 when the westerly breezes which succeed them set in, sometimes sud- 

 denly, all the bodily malaise which they may have caused quickly disap- 

 pears. They have, however, a most beneficial effect in purifying the 

 atmosphere. They destroy noxious germs which may float about in the 

 air, and otherwise do an immense amount of good. At the same time 

 their effect upon tender plants is severe, and all kinds of flowers and 

 shrubs which are not hardy or tolerably well protected from them droop 

 and shrink, and are slow to recover their strength until a much cooler 

 temperature prevails. 



Even with the drawback of occasional hot winds, there is seldom 

 such severe heat in the summer as to prevent persons from following 

 their ordinary occupations out of doors. There are only forty-five days 

 in the year, taking the average of thirty-four years, 1857 to 1890, on which 

 the temperature rises above 90. The Government astronomer has noted 

 this fact, and states that this climate, " beautiful as it really is, afford- 

 ing as it does the great number of pleasant days on which outdoor 

 pursuits can be carried on with buoyancy of spirits is a wee bit dry, a 

 fact which vegetation on the plains in our summer season sufficiently 

 attests. The clearness or transparency of the atmosphere is some- 

 thing wonderful and owing to its dryness, except on hot wind days, it 

 is seldom oppressive unless one is lazy. Cricket matches are played 

 with the usual enthusiasm before crowds of spectators with the ther- 

 mometer ranging between 90 and 100 in the shade, and the writer has 

 ridden 50 miles in a day with the thermometer as high as 110 without 

 much inconvenience or distress; the secret of which is that these high 

 temperatures are always accompanied by such an extreme dryness of 

 the air that perspiration affords instantaneous relief. When a fierce hot 

 wind is blowing and the thermometer stands at perhaps something 

 over 100, the wet bulb thermometer stands at 65, and it is this which 



