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the end of March, owing to the backing and filling of 

 the north-west monsoon, the winds are unsettled. 

 At this time of the year, both extremes meet, and 

 calms are followed by sudden squalls. These squalls 

 are accompanied by deluges of rain, and may last 

 from half an hour to several days, during which time 

 the wind will blow from all points of the compass. 

 But although a year seldom passes without one of 

 these circular gales occurring in one or other of the 

 islands, they rarely if ever rise to the fury of a hurri- 

 cane, such as those that annually sweep over Mauritius 

 or the West Indies. The houses of the natives, the 

 settlers' buildings, trees, &c, are evidence that heavy 

 gales of wind (hurricanes) do not occur. 



The annual rainfall in Fiji may be considered heavy 

 even for a tropical country ; and w T hat is of the great- 

 est importance in an agricultural point of view, is that 

 the rains fall most abundantly during the warm or 

 summer season, when vegetation most requires it. As 

 tables of rainfall, &c. will be found in the App. (V.) 

 it is unnecessary to go into details ; but it may be in- 

 teresting to state that Delanasau, on the north coast of 

 Vanua Levu, is one of the driest parts of Fiji. There, 

 in 1877, rain fell more or less on 106 days; at Qara 

 Warn, in Taviuni, on 228 days ; at Levuka, Ovalau, 

 on 158 days ; and at Wai ni Sasa, on the Howa river, 

 Viti Levu, on 139 days. Unfortunately we do not 

 have the quantity that fell at the last-mentioned place. 

 Wai ni Sasa is on the banks of the Uewa river, about 

 25 miles from its mouth. The district is popularly 

 known as one of the wettest in Fiji ; but as far as a 

 comparison can be made, the number of days on which 

 rain falls is less there than at Levuka. At Dela- 

 nasau, in 1877, December was the hottest month of 



Q 2019. K 



