386 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. situation of this island, which is of a circular form, 

 elevated and placed under the tropics. 



The climate of that section of the island exposed to the 

 trade winds must necessarily differ from that of the part 

 which happens to be sheltered from them. It may easily 

 be conceived, that the clouds, impelled by the wind, 

 must more particularly dissolve on the part they first 

 reach, and that attracted by the mountains, they must 

 there pour forth the greater part of the water contained 

 in them ; so that the section of the island situated beyond 

 those mountains must have less rain than that which 

 receives the first shock of the breeze and the first en- 

 counter of the clouds. This is what actually takes place, 

 and the part of the island exposed to the breeze is watered 

 beyond its wants. 



The summer, or rainy season, only differs there from 

 the winter, or dry season, because there falls then a greater 

 quantity of rain. It is easy to conceive besides, that in 

 the sheltered part, or to leeward, the grounds must be 

 watered according to their situations, where nearer or 

 farther removed from the mountains. If afterwards it be 

 considered, that over the whole island, the ground rises 

 gradually from the shore to the height of 1,000, 1,200, and 

 1,400, and even 1,600 toises above the level of the sea, 

 it will be felt, that generally the highest parts are the 

 most watered ; that throughout the whole island the far- 

 ther you go from the shore the more rain and cold you 

 meet with ; that the south-east, and east, and south parts, 

 are the most rainy, and the cantons north-west, north, 

 and west, are the most dry. This is actually the case 

 with some trifling exceptions. It results from these facts, 

 that one cannot move round the island, or from the sea- 

 shore to the top of the mountains, without constantly 

 changing climate, air, and temperature. _ , j 



Bemarks 



