APPENDIX. 



TEMPERATURES IN ECUADOR. 



421 



E.— TEMPERATURES IN ECUADOR. 



The temperatures experienced in Ecuador were moderate both as regards 

 heat and cold. During our stay at Guayaquil in December 1879, the 

 highest temperature observed in the shade was 85° Faht., at 1,30 p.m., 

 on the 10th ; and on our return in July 1880, 79° at 3 p.m. on the 21st. 

 The highest recorded by Mr. Chambers during our absence in the interior 

 occurred on December 21, 23, 25, 1879, on each of which days he observed 

 87*5 at 6 P.M. Although these figures do not represent the maximum in 

 the shade at Guayaquil, they are not, I believe, far beneath it. Temperature 

 at this place appears to have a very small range ; so far as I could learn, 

 seldom rising to 90°, and not generally falling much below 65° at night. 

 The lowest temperature I noted during our stay was 70" at 7.30 a.m., on 

 July 27, 1880. From Mr. Chambers's observations it would appear that the 

 months December and January are distinctly warmer than June and July.' 



Moving, as we did in the interior, from one place to another, at continu- 

 ally varying elevations, it was not easy to tell whether one month was or 

 was not notably warmer than another ; but from the Bulletin which is 

 printed by the Observatory at Quito ^ I am able to form the following table, 





Maximum observed on 



Minimum observed on any 



Date. 



any Day 



of the Month. 



Day of the Month. 



December 1879 



22-8 



(8th) 



4-8 (1st) 



January 1880 



23-7 



(2nd) 



7-4 (2nd) 



February ,, 



24-0 



(27th) 



7-0 (12th, 13th, 22nd) 



March ,, 



22-9 



(3rd) 



5 6 (24th) 



April 



22.5 



(14th) 



7-0 (20th) 



May 



22-3 



(3rd) 



8-0 (2nd, 20th, 21st) 



June ,, 



22-8 



(17th) 



6-5 (3rd, 30th) 



July 



22.6 



(19th) 



6-7 (6th) 



August , , 



22-6 (2nd and 5th) 



8-5 (12th) 



September ,, 



23-4 



(23rd) 



4-1 (10th) 



October ,, 



20.2 



(9th) 



5-6(5th, 6th, 7th, 11th) 



November ,, 



20-3 



(29th) 



6-8 (14th, 22nd) 



1 The head-coverings worn by Ecuadorians show that the sun's rays are seldom so 

 powerful as to be dangerous. In Guayaquil the Panama straw hat is very generally used, 

 and at Quito and other towns in the interior tall black hats are not unfrequently seen on 

 well-to-do people, while the lower orders use ordinary felt wideawakes ;ind straw hats. I 

 did not see any persons in the whole country wearing helmets and protective devices 

 such as are commonly employed in tropical or hot countries. In the interior the sun is not 

 often perfectly clear at raid-day, and only on one occasion did I feel that its rays were 

 sufficiently fierce to be dangerous, namely, at Guachala (9217), in March 1880, at 8 a.m. 



2 Boletin del Ohservatorio Astronomico de Quito. Inprenta nacional. The tempera- 

 tures are given in the centigrade scale. 



