( 367 ) 
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF THE EAINFALL 
MAP OF SOUTH AFRICA.* 
By J. R. Sutton. 
(With thirteen Maps.) 
" When the clouds shake their hyssops, and the ram 
Like holy water falls upon the plain, 
'Tis sweet to gaze upon the springing grain 
And see your harvest born." — Ledwidge. 
1. Introduction. 
In the rainfall tables at the end will be found full particulars of the 
mean monthly and mean annual rainfall for 567 stations in South and 
East Africa. These have been computed from all the information 
available in the published reports of the meteorological services of the 
various States. Occasional items have been extracted from the * Meteoro- 
logische Zeitschrift,' the ' Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological 
Society,' Symons's ' Meteorological Magazine,' and the Nortlieni Netvs. 
Besides this the directors of some of the services have kindly furnished 
special information on request ; friends have obtained and forwarded returns 
from stations in the Bechuanaland Protectorate ; and resident magistrates 
and police officers have helped materially. Consequently it is now possible 
to give a very much larger and truly representative account of South African 
rainfall than it was possible to give in a previous discussion. t 
The tabulated averages now given, dealing with some 8800 years of 
record altogether, have, with few exceptions, been computed by me alone. 
The work has been gone over two or three times in order to ensure accuracy, 
but with such a mass of material it would be a wonder if there were no 
mistakes at all. Certainly there are not many. 
The aim throughout has been to use all existing records running into ten 
years or more, and in areas where gauges are numerous this rule has been 
* The tables and maps here given were prepared five years ago ; but, for 
various reasons, it has not been possible to publish them before. 
t J. R. Sutton, " An Introduction to the Study of South African Eainfall,'" ' Trans. 
Phil. Soc. S. Afr./ May, 1904. This dealt with 160 stations having records of long- 
periods. 
32 
