8 



India. The Europeans can be subdivided into about 200 government 

 employees, 300 soldiers of tbe Netherlands Government, 150 persons in 

 mercantile business, the remainder, abont 800, being i^lanters. 



CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. 



Sumatra, being immediately under the equator and in the path of the 

 general oceanic currents, has a truly tropical climate. This is charac- 

 terized by having a very uniform temperature and an enormous rainfall. 

 The seasons are called monsoons; the east monsoon lasting from April 

 to October, and the west monsoon from October to April. The follow- 

 ing tables give the meteorological conditions of only two stations, 

 Penang and Singapore, of the Straits Settlements, but they furnish an 

 idea of the conditions on the East Coast of Sumatra. There is in 

 addition a table of the average rainfall in Medan, the capital of the 

 East Coast of Sumatra, for a jjeriod of thirteen years. 



TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL. 



Penang, Straits Settlements, latitude 5^ N., longitude 101° E. 



MEAN MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE. 



Tear. 



Jan. 



Feb. 



Mar. 



Apr. 



May. 



June. 



July. 



Aug. Sept.. 



Oct. 



Nov. Dec. 



1885 



Deg. 

 91.0 



89.7 

 89.7 



Deg. 

 92.1 

 91.3 



88.3 



Deg. 

 92.5 

 93.7 



89.5 



Deg. 

 92.1 

 91.7 

 88.0 



Deg. 

 89.8 

 89.7 

 88.5 



Deg. 

 88.9 

 88.8 

 87.5 



Deg. 

 88.0 

 88.9 

 87.9 



Deg. 



87.5 

 87.5 

 85.2 



Deg. 

 86.9 

 86.5 

 87.3 



Deg. 

 87.2 

 87.0 

 86.7 



Deg. Deg. 

 87. 6 1 88. 4 



1886 



1887 



87.0 1 86.8 

 85. 4 i 86. 7 



Mean 



90.1 



90.6 



9L9 



90.6 



89.3 



88.4 



88.3 



86.7 86.9 



87.0 1 86.7.^ 87.3 



MEAN MINIMUM TEMPERATURE. 



1885. 

 1886. 

 1887. 



Mean . . . 



Deg. 

 73.0 

 74.6 

 73.8 



73.8 



Deg. 

 74.0 

 73.7 

 74.2 



Deg. 

 75.4 

 75.8 

 73.5 



Deg. 



mi 



76.4 

 74.0 



Deg. 

 76.2 

 76.4 

 75.0 



Deg. 

 76.2 

 75.5 

 74.0 



Deg. 

 74.9 

 75.2 

 73.7 



Deg. 

 74.4 

 74.5 

 73.8 



74.0 



74.9 



75.7 



75.9 



75,2 



74.6 



74.2 



74.7 



74.4 

 74.4 



Deg. 

 74.4 

 74.2 

 74.3 



Deg. 

 74.6 

 74.3 



74.0 



74.5 



74.3 



74.3 



Deg. 

 74.2 

 72.9 

 73.6 



73. 



MEAN MONTHLY TEMPERATURE. 



1885 



1886 



1887 



Deg. 



82.8 

 82.5 

 81.6 



Deg. 

 84.0 

 83.1 

 81.3 



Deg. 

 85.1 

 85.2 

 82.1 



Deg. 

 85.4 

 84.7 

 82.3 



Deg. 

 83.8 

 83.5 

 82.2 



Deg. 

 82.8 

 82.8 

 81.6 



Deg. 



82.7 

 82.6 

 81.5 



Deg. 

 8L4 

 81.5 

 79.6 



Deg. 

 8L2 

 80.5 

 81.6 



Deg. 

 80.8 

 81.0 

 80.4 



Deg. 

 81.0 

 80.3 

 79.6 



Deg. 

 8L4 

 80.4 

 79.9 



Mean 



82.3 



82.8 



84.1 



84.1 



83.2 



82.4 



82.3 



80.8 



8L1 



80.7 



80.3 



80.6 



MEAN RELATIVE HUMIDITY. 



1884 



P.ct. 

 70 

 69 



74 

 75 



P.ct. 



72 

 66 

 70 



70 



P.cl. 

 67 

 69 

 67 



74 



P.ct. 

 64 



72 

 73 

 78 



P.ct. 

 81 



77 

 77 

 78 



P.ct. 



78 

 78 



77 

 77 



P.ct. 

 81 



77 

 77 

 75 



P.ct. 



80 

 80 

 79 

 81 



P.ct. 

 82 

 81 

 81 



78 



P.ct. 



81 

 83 

 79 

 81 



P.ct. 

 83 



. 83 

 80 

 81 



P.ct. 

 75 



1885 



77 



1886 



73 



1887 . 



78 







Mean 



72 



71 



69 



72 



78 



78 



74 



80 



81 



81 



82 



76 







