88 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 



than blowing down a few acres of plainlain trees. Large ac- 

 cumulations of clouds are now seen going to the southward — 

 hollow peals of thunder are heard in the interior, and the day 

 generally closes with faint flashes of lightning from the south 

 and south-west. 



The length of the days are thirteen hours, and from that to 

 fourteen ; no other variation is perceptible throughout the 

 year. Greater variety of climate is to be found here than is 

 generally expected : the range of the thermometer on the sea- 

 coast, in the dry season, which is esteemed the hottest, is from 

 84 to 90 ; and at the distance of twenty miles in the interior, 

 the degree of heat seldom exceeds 80 in the warmest part of 

 the day, and in the nights is generally as low as 50 or 60. 

 The mornings come in excessively cold, and with a heavy fall 

 of dew, which, with the swamps and stagnated waters, makes 

 the interior unhealthy to Europeans. The Indians, however, 

 who inhabit these parts, from being accustomed to the soil, 

 enjoy very good health, and are subject to few diseases. 

 Many persons speak of this climate as unwholesome. I have 

 not found it so. In my peregrinations by water to Essequebo 

 and Berbice, which my occupation required, I have fre- 

 quently been wet through three times within the twenty-four 

 hours, and allowed the same cloaths to dry on me without 

 feeling the least inconvenience: not that I recommend a simi- 

 lar experiment to new arrivers, but, on the contrary, I was 



