CLIMATE. 355 



thirds of the total amount fell in the five months between the 

 beginning of April and the end of August. At Ugi, which lies 

 nearly 60 miles north-east of Santa Anna, 146-24 inclies of rain were 

 registered during the same year. About one-third of the total rain 

 for the year fell in the two months of April and July. On compar- 

 ing the totals for each month at these two localities, there will be 

 found to be but little agreement, which is due to the circumstance 

 that the daily rainfalls of these two places have little relation one 

 with the other, a heavy fall at one island being often only indicated 

 by a slight fall of rain at the other. It is thus evident that localit}^ 

 has a great influence on the rainfall in this part of the group ; and 

 probably Ugi owes its greater rainfall to the proximity of the high 

 land of St. Christoval. Here, as in other parts of this group, I often 

 had opportunities of observing how the contiguit}'' of land affected 

 the rainfall in a single shower. I mio-ht have been in the interior 

 of an island exposed to a deluge of rain for a couple of hours, and 

 have found, as I did once in the Shortland Islands, that there had 

 been very little rain on board. Another time, when in my Rob Roy 

 canoe on the south side of Treasury harbour and not more than 

 a mile from the ship, a rain-squall passed over me leaving scarcely a 

 drop behind ; but as it swept over the ship and was approaching the 

 steep slopes of the island, a smart shower of -f^jy of an inch fell on 

 the deck. 



I cannot gather from the observations made in this eastern part 

 of the group, that one season of the year has a heavier rainfall than 

 another. On comparing the two records for 1883 of Ugi and Santa 

 Anna, it might be thought that the closing months of the year would 

 usually ])rove to be the driest ; but on referring to the register kept 

 on board the ship in this locality in the latter part of 1882 (page 365), 

 which is one of the heaviest records we had in the Solomon Group, 

 such an inference would be negatived. Nor d^o I find from these 

 registers of rainfall that there appears to be any relation between 

 the amount of rain and the prevalence or non-prevalence of the 

 south-easterly trade, which usually becomes well established in May 

 and lasts till the end of November or the beginning of December 

 when the north-westerly and w^esterly winds set in. These observ- 

 ations point towards the inference, therefore, that the distribution 

 of rain through the seasons in this part of the group is capricious ; 

 and they do not warrant the conclusion that one season is wetter 

 than another. 



