826 SEASONS. 



any mark she may have made in scooping- out a 

 place for the egg's, but the keen eye of a native 

 quickly detects the slightest sign of recent disturb- 

 ance of the mound, and he seldom fails to hit upon 

 the eg'gs. 



As at Port Essington, the year at Cape York is 

 divided into two seasons,* the dry and the rainy. 

 From personal observation and other sources of 

 information, it would appear that the limits and 

 duration of these admit of so much variation that it 

 is impossible to determine with certainty, even within 

 a month^ when one ceases and the other begins. It 

 would appear however that the dry season^ cha- 

 racterized by the prevalence of the south-east trade, 

 usually terminates in November, the chang-e having' 

 for some time previous been indicated by calms, lig-ht 

 winds, sometimes fi'om the westward, a g-loomy un- 

 settled appearance in the weather, and occasional 

 showers — violent squalls qf wind and rain are fre- 

 quent about this time until'' the westerly breezes set 

 in, when the weather becomes moderate with frequent 

 rain, occasionally very heavy, and intervals, often 

 of many days duration, of dry weather. In the 

 month of March the south-east trade usually re- 

 sumes its former influence, the chang'e being* often 

 attended with the same thick squally weather, and 



* The natives of the neighhouring Prince of "Wales Island 

 distinguish the dry season (aibi, or the fine weather), the wet 

 (kuki or the N.W. wind which then prevails), and the period of 

 change (malgU), equivalent to our Spring and Autumn. 



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