CLIMATE. 



295 



my reverend friend was on the high road to total 

 ruin. 



I have spoken of the heat of San Bias ; but the 

 period I described was considered the fine sea- 

 son^ which lasts from December to May inclusive. 

 During that interval the sky is always clear ; no 

 rain falls ; land and sea-breezes prevail ; and, as 

 there is then no sickness, the town is crowded 

 with inhabitants. From June to November, a 

 very different order of things takes place. The 

 heat is greatly increased ; the sky becomes over- 

 cast ; the sea and land-breezes no longer blow ; 

 but in their stead, hard storms sweep along the 

 coast, and excessive rains deluge the country ; 

 with occasional violent squalls of wind, accompa- 

 nied by thunder and lightning. During this pe- 

 riod, San Bias is rendered uninhabitable, in con- 

 sequence of the sickness, and of the violence of 

 the rain; which not only drenches the whole 

 town, but, by flooding the surrounding country, 

 renders the rock, on which the town is built, lite- 

 rally an island. The whole rainy season indeed 

 is sickly, but more especially so towards the end, 

 when the rains become less violent and less fre- 

 quent ; while the intense heat acts with mischiev- 



