152 EQUATORIAL CLIMATES. 



smaller, and more strictly speaking equatorial belt, 

 lying exclusively within the zone of constant rains; 

 because large areas of the heavy forest generally extend 

 far beyond these limits, though its most characteristic 

 features are of course more strongly marked towards 

 its centre, than on its outer edges, where on account 

 of the occurrence of dry periods, we begin to enter 

 the region of deciduous trees. It is for these reasons 

 that we have adopted Meyen's limits for the equatorial 

 regions. It will, however, readily be understood that 

 no hard and fast line is drawn in Nature, and that in 

 all cases one class of vegetation is only gradually 

 supplanted by another. 



The whole of this great region may, however, gene- 

 rally speaking, be described as a hot, damp climate, 

 with little change of season throughout the year. The 

 successions of summer and winter are alike unknown 

 the climate on the whole most closely resembling that 

 of a perpetual spring, a wonderful equability of tempera- 

 ture constituting its most remarkable feature. It is 

 never cool ; but, on the other hand, the extreme heats 

 which prevail further to the northward and southward, 

 are never felt here; from the superabundance of vapour 

 always present in the air, the atmosphere is generally 

 to a certain extent misty, and thus the fiercer heats of 

 the rays of the vertical sun are less strongly felt: so 

 much so, that the newcomer is often surprised to find 

 himself so little oppressed by the heat; it is rather 

 the long unbroken continuity of high temperatures 

 than the great heat, which proves trying to the Eu- 

 ropean resident. 



In these regions flowers bloom throughout the entire 

 year; fruits of various kinds follow each other in con- 



