THE ENGLISH LAKE DISTRICT. 107 



inches, respectively. It may be observed, that the fall of rain in 1852 has been 

 relatively much greater in the Westmoreland than in the Cumberland portion of 

 the district. 



In January and February, the fall at Seathwaite was 47*70 inches, and, in 

 November and December, it amounted to 50*30 inches; so that, of 156 74 inches 

 precipitated at the head of Borrowdale in 1852, exactly 98 inches descended in 

 four months, whilst 58*74 inches were distributed over the remaining eight months 

 of the year. 



On the 11th and 12th of December, the quantity of rain measured at Stone- 

 thwaite (for 48 hours) was 9*11 inches; on five days in this month, the fall 

 amounted to 16*36 inches ; and, on eight days, to 20*97 inches ! ! 



1853. — Among several anomalous and opposite characteristics presented by 

 the years 1852 and 1853, the departure from the average in the rain fall is the 

 most obvious and remarkable. While the former is the wettest, the latter is the 

 driest year within the period comprehended by the Lake District observations. 

 In 1852, the depth of water deposited by the atmosphere at Seathwaite was 

 equivalent to 156*74 inches; and, in 1853, to 113*69 inches; a difference of 43 

 inches — nearly corresponding to the average annual fall at Whitehaven in the 

 last ten years. 



Notwithstanding the great deficit in the quantity of rain, the wet days at Seath- 

 waite are two more than the average number ; and, at Whitehaven, they amount 

 to four, and, at the Flosh, to eight more than the number in the preceding memor- 

 ably wet year. In both years, the Springs were unusually dry, and the fall of 

 rain in the first six months was below an average quantity. The depth of rain 

 measured at Seathwaite in December, was \\ inch ; in the corresponding month 

 of 1852, the fall amounted to 32*83 inches ; and, at Stonethwaite, to 3303 inches. 



The Table (No. XXII.) exhibiting the rain fall in the Lake District Valleys 

 during the last ten years, requires very little comment. 



The greatest annual fall at Seathwaite was 160*9 inches, in 1844; the least, 

 113*7 inches, in 1853. The greatest monthly fall was 32*83 inches, in December, 

 1852. The greatest depth measured in 24 hours was 6*62 inches, in November, 

 1846; and, in 48 consecutive hours, 962 inches on the 25th and 26th of November, 

 1845, and 9*74 inches, on the 8th and 9th of October, 1846. 



The Mountain Gauges. — The following tables shew the excess or deficiency 

 per cent, of the principal Mountain Gauges over or under the quantity of rain 

 received by the adjacent valleys, both in the summer and winter months, in each 

 year since the instruments were erected in 1846. The positive sign signifies that 

 the quantity is greater, and the negative sign that it is less, than the fall in the 

 valley in the same period. 



