734 



WINDS OF THE GLOBE. 



Mantchooria, the Amoor provinces and the western coast of the sea of Ochotsk, 

 till about 60° N. L. (See Tlates 5, 6, 7.) 



As this last extension of the monsoon zone is not genei'ally accepted, it is 

 necessary to give some further details. I have already stated that on the last- 

 named coast the cloudiness is double in summer of that of winter. The E. winds 

 of summer and the W. winds which set in September or October lasting all winter 

 are so well known to the inliabitants that they sail in July and August from 

 Kamtschatka to Ajan or Ochotsk and return in September or October, having in 

 each passage favorable winds. The rains have also a marked monsoon character at 

 Ajan, only they are somewhat delayed, the largest amount falling in August and 

 September. This is due to the great masses of ice in the sea of Ochotsk, which 

 disappear only in the end of summer. So long as the sea is colder than the land, 

 precipitation can not be copious, which is the case until August and September 

 when the sea is warmer than the land. 



As to the upper Amoor, the small amount of snow falling in winter and the 

 abundant rains of summer also tend to show that this region is under the influence 

 of the monsoons. 



I give below the percentage of the prevailing winds of the different months at 

 Hakodade (42° N. L.) and Nikolaievsk (53° N. L.) to show with how much regu- 

 larity the change takes place in these northern latitudes, which were till now 

 considered as not beloneinsr to the monsoon re£;ions. 



January 

 February 

 March 

 April . 

 May . 

 June . 

 July . 

 August 

 September 

 October 

 November 

 December 



Nikolaievsk. 



E.,S. E, W.,N. W. 



1 

 5 



17 

 39 

 50 

 62 

 60 

 45 

 28 

 15 

 7 

 7 



83 



79 

 52 

 47 

 29 

 14 

 24 

 3ii 

 47 

 60 

 77 

 72 



E., S. E., S. W., N. W, 



10 

 13 

 33 

 43 

 55 

 64 

 64 

 54 

 40 

 29 

 21 

 15 



80 



72 

 50 

 39 

 25 

 20 

 16 

 25 

 45 

 55 

 63 

 72 



India and adjacent regions have been long known to the Europeans as the classical 

 country of the monsoons, though as we have seen their course is not less regular in 

 China and Japan. There is a reason why the mind is more impressed with their 

 regularity in the Indian Seas ; owing to the low latitude, there is scarcely any dif- 

 ference of temperature between winter and summer. The change of the season from 

 wet to dry and vice versa is then the only conspicuous feature in the course of the 

 year. In China and Japan the difference of temperature is greater between the two 

 seasons, and these changes more attract the attention. The inhabitant of a tempe- 

 rate zone finds here the habitual difference between winter and summer, and thus 

 considers this climate as resembling his own, different as it may be in the course of 

 the winds and the period of rains. The atmospheric pressure of the monsoon region 

 is illustrated on Plate 14, the winds on Plates 6, 6 and 7. 



