326 



Mr. Hinds on (Uimate in connexion 



wind. At the season of the year, he observes, w hen the 

 garuas prevail, a very light north wind is frequent*. Thunder 

 and lightning are equally rare with the rain. The extent of 

 country subject to these features lies between the Cordilleras 

 and the coast, to the north is limited by the bay of Guayaquil, 

 or 4° S. lat., and to the south extends through Peru into Chili; 

 in the latter it gradually merges into the climate of the lati- 

 tude, but even at Valparaiso its influence has not entirely 

 ceased ; for though this place has its rainy season, it is of 

 short duration, and the dews are exceedingly heavy. 



Within the limits of the garuas there is a remarkable ab- 

 sence of the larger vegetation ; trees in a natural state are 

 rare, the usual woody plants being bushes ; I do not mean to 

 trace any connexion between the two, for I could never dis- 

 cover any — it is merely a coincidence. Even at Valparaiso, 

 the only trees to be seen growing, as planted by nature, are a 

 few of Cocos Chilensis in some of the more sheltered valleys. 

 That large trees will grow is very evident from the number 

 of fruit-trees in many places, and from the fine avenues w hich 

 shade the roads and promenades about Lima ; still this tract 

 of coast, it must be allowed, has been left by nature aden- 

 drous. 



The atmosphere of the trades is so nearly saturated, that 

 slight circumstances are sufficient to cause a precipitation ; 

 frequently the groups of islands in their influence can pro- 

 duce such a depression as to bring on heavy show ers ; but 

 islands in the trades are not usually exposed to much rainy 

 weather. In one of the group of the Sandwich Islands, I 

 was able to witness the gradual formation of clouds and rain 

 after a long interval of dry weather ; the breeze blew rather 

 on the end of the island and over its whole length, w hich is 

 intersected by a number of beautiful valleys; the most elevated 

 portion was to wdndward, and around this light vapours col- 

 lected, gradually thickening into clouds, which, swept by the 

 breeze over the mountain heights, soon became too heavy for 

 suspension, and fell in heavy but partial showers ; so that 

 whilst one portion of a lovely valley was glow ing under the 

 full blaze of the sun, another was drenched in rain. It was 

 curious to observe how very regularly the deposition increased 

 to leeward ; the valleys in this direction received a good deal 

 more rain than those more to windward, and are looked on 

 as proportionately more fertile, and property in them is more 

 valuable. As the circumstance was soon very evident, it be- 

 came of practical importance in making botanizing excursions, 

 and a look at the weather and the summit of the island de- 

 * Ulloa, Voyage to South America, vol. ii. p. 67. 



