74 Our Araby 



— a thing which, though experienced a tliousand 

 times, I can never see without a feeling of being 

 enchanted, or about to turn into a Maxfteld Parrish. 

 But now to be more specific, for I wish to guard 

 against the danger that lurks in "glittering gen- 

 eralities." Figures, as regards climate, do not tell 

 everything, but they serve for a skeleton, and Gov- 

 ernment statistics are reliable, if nothing else. Here, 

 then, are the U. S. Department of Agriculture's 

 records of rainfall and temperature for a recent 

 series of years: (the official figures for the succeed- 

 ing years are incomplete.) The data are for Palm 

 Springs Station, six miles from the village, and 

 therefore are not exact for the latter point: but 

 they will serve fairly. 



AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURES AT PALM SPRINGS 

 STATION, YEARS 1907 TO 1915 INCLUSIVE 

 Jan. Feb.MarchApl. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Deo. 

 Highest. 77 80 90 96 104 112 113 112 107 98 87 76 

 Lowest.. 31 37 45 52 56 64 73 73 67 .0.') 42 33 

 Mean... 53 55 63 69 73 84 90 90 84 73 62 52 



In the nine years the maximum temperature 

 reached was 118°, in July '07 and May '10. The 

 minimum was 18', which was touched in a "record" 

 cold spell in January '13: with that exception 26°, 

 in December '11, is the lowest figure for the nine- 

 year period, with 28° on three occasions for next 

 lowest. 



RAINFALL, inches: 



1907. 4.80; '08, 3.50; '09, 5.50; '10, 3.94; '11, 4.83; '12, 5.66; 



'13, 3.88; '14, 7.87; '15, 5.71. 



(Average for the nine years, 5.08 inches.) 



It will be seen that Palm Springs' average annual 

 rainfall is about five inches, which, small as it is, 



