Climate and Meteorology. 17 



Climate, 



The climate of Christmas Island is both pleasant and healthy. 

 During the greater part of the year the weather is much like that 

 of a hot, dry, English summer, tempered nearly always by a 

 steady sea-breeze from the E.S.E., which is generally fairly cool, 

 and keeps the temperature very even day and night. The 

 maximum temperature (in the shade) recorded during my stay was 

 89° Fahr. on November 20th ; the minimum (night) was 70° Eahr. 

 on February 13th, when it was raining heavily. The greatest 

 range in twenty -four hours was 14°. The average daily maximum 

 and minimum may be taken as about 84° Eahr. and 75° Fahr. 

 respectively, the former occurring an hour or two after midday, the 

 latter shortly before sunrise. The average temperature of the 

 surface of the sea, deduced from several observations, is about 83°. 



The prevalent wind is the S.E., or rather E.S.E., trade- wind, 

 which blows the greater part of the year (about 300 days on an 

 average). From May to December it is almost uninterrupted, but 

 during the earlier months of the year, which are the rainy season 

 in the island, the wind occasionally shifts round to the N. and N.E., 

 and sometimes blows hard from these directions, accompanied by 

 heavy rains. At such times Flying Fish Cove, which during the 

 prevalence of the trade - wind forms a sheltered anchorage, is 

 exposed to a heavy sea, which breaks on the reef with great 

 violence, the spray filling the whole valley and drifting up the 

 high cliff like smoke. The beach is piled up till it is nearly 

 vertical, and at high tide a little water is sometimes spilled over 

 its edge on to the platform behind. During these periods many 

 birds of passage, such as wagtails, whimbrel, swallows, etc., reach 

 the island, often in a very exhausted condition, and several new 

 kinds of moths and butterflies, not seen at other times, were 

 obtained. Even if the northerly wind only lasts a few hours 

 swarms of dragon- flies nearly always arrive ; after two or three 

 weeks they disappear again. 



Except for showers at night on the higher parts of the island, 

 almost the whole rainfall occurs from December to May inclusive ; 

 during these months there are sometimes heavy downpours lasting 

 several days, but as a rule the mornings are fine. At these times 

 the rain nearly always comes when the wind shifts round towards 

 the north. In the dry season (May-December) the vegetation is- 

 kept fresh by very heavy dews and occasional showers at night. 

 These latter often occur on the uplands of the island, and seem 

 to be caused by the chilling of the E.S.E. wind, which results in 

 the formation of clouds over the high land. 



The meteorological peculiarities of the island no doubt depend on 

 its situation close to the southern limit of the monsoon. From 

 towards the end of the year till May the northern horizon is nearly 

 always marked by a cloud-bank, even when the trade -wind i& 

 blowing on the island, and, as shown above, it is only occasionally 



