IV. CLIMATE. 149 



showers and mists. Dry and sunny days are not unfre- 

 quent in immediate proximity to the hills, while their 

 summits and sides are enveloped in drizzling mists, or 

 crossed by driving showers. Eain often prevails in the 

 internal valleys among the hills, while the surrounding 

 country on their outskirts remains free from wet. The 

 western hills are thus peculiarly the land of moisture, 

 both by position and by elevation. The climate of North 

 Britain is more humid than that of South Britain, in 

 connexion with the hiUy surface of the former, compara- 

 tively with the low plains of South England. But the 

 hilly portions of the latter almost emulate those of the 

 former in humidity. The peculiarities of the western 

 flora and vegetation, before adverted to, are increased in 

 the mountainous districts, except that the plants which 

 are unfitted to bear low temperatures, and thus appa- 

 rently adapted only to the south-western counties, are 

 absent from the northern hiUs, equally as from the 

 eastern plains. 



The subjoined list of western and eastern subprovinces 

 wiU convey some idea of the rain-fall on the two sides of 

 the island. The figures which are prefixed to the names 

 show the yearly quantity of rain in inches, as reported by 

 observers in many diff'erent jjlaces. For some of the sub- 

 provinces no local reports have been obtained ; for others, 

 only those of one spot ; for others, again, the figui-e is an 

 average from records for several different spots. The 

 whole include about a hundred places, very unequally 

 apportioned to the provinces. The figures can be given 

 only as approximate truths : — 



Western. Eastern. 



43. South Peninsula. 32. Mid Channel. 



36. Mid Peninsula. 30. East Channel. 



30. North Peninsula. 29. South Thames. 



West Chauucl. 24. North Thames. 



