VARIATION OF WINDS. 
61 
the fact of its being hot and dry; for, did 
it come up from the sea, it, on the contrary, 
would be cold ; since that is the direction of the 
large masses of ice of the Antartic regions, and 
all yaponrs which originated there would, con- 
sequently, when condensed, be more or less 
impregnated with moisture, as well as cold. 
From the registers, kept in the immediate vi- 
cinity of Cape Town, it has been ascertained 
that, when the Table-cloth has been spread on 
the mountain, and this wind blowing hard 
there, a North-wester, accompanied with heavy 
rain, has been local at Hottentot Holland, which 
is only at the opposite side of False Bay. 
It is also known that, a hundred miles to the 
Southward of the Cape, the wind is always from 
the Western quarter; while, even after sighting 
it, although the wind has been W. S. W., the 
Table-cloth has been seen on the mountain, 
indicating a South-Easter at Table Bay. 
During these gales, the thermometer usually 
rises gradually, and gains the highest point of 
graduation immediately preceding their close. 
The North-Westerly wind, on the other hand, 
which generally prevails through the winter, 
brings the quicksilver down, and is usually 
accompanied with rain. This latter is called at 
Cape Town "the Kloof wind," because it rolls 
over the town from "the Kloof" or ravine situ- 
