334 
CLIMATE. 
Chap. XX. 
From this table, February appears to be the 
coldest month in the year. The thermometer in 
this month registered one degree and a half below 
zero, or upwards of 33 degrees of frost. January 
appears to be nearly as cold, and the lowest, in 
December, was only three degrees above zero. 
In places less sheltered, and away from buildings, 
a thermometer stood four or five degrees lower 
than it did in Tien-tsin, where the above obser- 
vations were made. But the cold as indicated by 
the thermometer does not give an idea of that 
which is actually felt by those who are exposed to 
that cutting and piercing wind which sweeps 
along the dreary level plain. 
The rivers and canals are usually frozen over 
by the end of November, and continue in this 
state until the middle of March. In 1861 the ice 
began to move on the the 12th of March, and in 
the short space of three days it had entirely disap- 
peared. This is remarkable, when we remember 
that it is usually sixteen inches in thickness. 
June, July, and August are the hottest months 
in the year. The highest point (108°) was regis- 
tered in July. This heat, with the sun’s rays 
streaming through an atmosphere which is gene- 
rally clear and cloudless, was found to be very 
trying to the constitutions of our soldiers and the 
foreign residents who had settled down in Tien- 
tsin. During the months of April and May hot 
winds are not unfrequent. In the southern pro- 
vinces of China the heat of summer is often 
