A MAP SHOWING THE AVERAGE MONTHLY RAINFALL. 279 



April 1-37", for May 1-56", for June 1-35", for July 1-23", for 

 August 0*97", for September 1*1 6", for October 1-22", for Novem- 

 ber 1*21", for December 1*57". January is thus seen to be the 

 wettest month with 2-63", and August the driest with 097". 



One reference to the map shows that this mechanical arrange- 

 ment of the figures gives the desired information in much less 

 space, and is much easier to read than in any ordinary tabular 

 form. Let us for the sake of comparison take another degree, 

 that in which Lismore is situated, and the corresponding monthly 

 rainfalls stand out in remarkable contrast with those for Bourke. 

 In January they have 8 -50", February 8*64", March 12-74", April 

 7-82" May 6-73", June 4-17", July 4-58", August 4-32", September 

 3-83", October 3-75", November 3*88", December 4-96"; while 

 here, the wettest month, March, has 12'74", and the driest 

 October 3-75". 



In the northern districts west of Bourke, January is the wettest 

 month of the year, and the half year January to June has much 

 more rain than the second half. Eastward of Bourke February 

 begins to claim with January the highest rainfall, and the pro- 

 portion of rainfall for the second half of the year is much better • 

 and from Walgett eastward, February is generally the wettest 

 month until we reach the highest lands where the rainfall is very 

 much greater than it is at Bourke, and then January again takes 

 the lead for quantity of rain. 



On the northern coast March is the wettest month, with January 

 February, and April in many places nearly equal, and although 

 there is much more rain on the coast in the latter half of the year, 

 the first half still maintains it superiority as to quantity. In the 

 extreme west of the central districts about Broken Hill, Wilcannia 

 and Menindie, May is the wettest month, and the rainfall in the 

 second half of the year is better than the first in some cases. 

 Eastward from this area for two hundred miles east of the River 

 Darling, the wettest month oscillates between January and 

 February, and in these districts there is a noteworthy increase in 

 the quantity of rain generally, and in the first half of the year 



