CLIMATE. 



sea, there was much less variation of temperature. 

 Throughout the day, it was generally, in the 

 coolest part of the shade, about 90^, sometimes 

 for several hours, 95°. The reflection from the 

 walls, and from the ground, made the air in the 

 open streets often much hotter, and I have seve- 

 ral times seen it above 100°. The highest tem- 

 perature, however, in a shaded spot, was 95°. At 

 night, the thermometer stood generally between 

 80° and 85°. Between ten and eleven o'clock in 

 the morning, the sea-breeze began to set in. None 

 but those who have felt the bodily and mental ex- 

 haustion caused by the hot nights and sultry morn- 

 ings of low latitudes, can form a just conception 

 of the delicious refreshment of this wind. For 

 some time before it actually reaches the spot, its 

 approach is felt and joyfully hailed by people 

 who, a few minutes before, appeared quite sub- 

 dued by the heat ; but who now acquire a sudden 

 animation and revival of their faculties; a cir- 

 cumstance which strangers, who have not learned 

 to discover the approach of the sea-breeze, are of- 

 ten at a loss to account for. When it has fairly set 

 in, the climate in the shade is delightful ; but in 

 the sun it is scarcely ever supportable at San Bias. 



