436 THE CLIMATE WITH REFEEENCE TO Chap. XXII. 



the effects of climate than anywhere else, and will 

 have little difficulty in obtaining an abundant 

 supply of fresh provisions. 



It is not my intention in these pages to offer 

 any suggestions to the commander of the Chinese 

 forces as to his mode of action. — I know nothing 

 of the art of war,- — but as the whole coast of China 

 from Canton to Shanghae, and much of the inland, 

 is well known to me, any information I give is 

 entitled to consideration. 



I have already remarked that the climate of the 

 country is much more to be dreaded than the 

 armies of the Chinese, and I shall draw these 

 remarks to a close by giving a description of what 

 that climate is. In all parts of China where I 

 have been, the hottest months in the year are 

 July and August. In the north the heat is very 

 oppressive from the middle of June to the end of 

 August. About Hongkong and Canton the op- 

 pressive heat commences a little earlier and lasts 

 longer, although it is not quite so intense as it 

 is further north. My registering thermometer 

 during July and August at Hongkong frequently 

 stood as high as 90°, and one day reached 94° in 

 the shade. In Shanghae and Ningpo the same 

 thermometer used to stand sometimes for days 

 at 100°. 



But the hottest months are not the most un- 

 healthy, at least we have not so much sickness 

 then as we have a little later in the season. In 

 September, when the monsoon begins to change. 



