COMPARISON OF THE RAINFALL OF SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE. 191 



precipitation of 47*36 inches, Parramatta adjacent, records 

 one of 39*0 inches only. The following table will perhaps 

 more clearly illustrate the varieties of coastal rainfall; the 

 rainfall in the interior being generally on a reduced scale 

 the further we recede from the coast line. The average 

 annual rainfall over a term of years for the capital cities 

 of Australia is given below: — 



Perth ... 33*5 inches. Hobart ... 22*9 inches. 



Adelaide ... 21*0 „ Sydney ... 47*4 „ 



Melbourne ... 24*9 ,, Brisbane... 50*4 „ 



and for fuller comparison it may be added, that of London 

 is recorded as being 25*0 inches, and that of New York as 

 being 43*0 inches. The appended tables 1 and 2 show the 

 comparative rainfall of Melbourne and Sydney during thirty 

 years. There is evident at the outset a serious disparity 

 in results, and it may perhaps be concluded therefrom that 

 the nearer we approach the Equator the greater on the 

 average will the coastal rainfall prove to be. Now, plotting 

 out the rainfall of Sydney for example, (vide Diagram 1) 

 on crosslined paper, each square of which denotes an inch 

 of rainfall, we see first that in the thirty years 1876 - 1905, 

 the year 1888 was the driest and 1890 the wettest, the 

 average rainfall over the whole period being 47*36 inches. 

 As regards Melbourne, the year 1898 was the driest and 

 the year 1887 was the wettest during the period under 

 review. In Diagram 2 is shown the relative variations 

 from the average rainfall, both of excess and of deficiency, 

 for Sydney and Melbourne during the thirty years under 

 consideration. The greater deviations from the average 

 in the case of Sydney stand out clearly. We have of course 

 to bear in mind at the outset the comparative efficiency of 

 the rainfall — a deluge may result in comparatively less 

 good than a much smaller quantity evenly distributed over 

 a longer period. In this regard I have shown the tabulated 

 number of days per annum on which rain has fallen. As 



