854 
The Great Brought of 1893 . 
were affected, both in an absolute and also in a partial degree. At 
Yarmouth the length of the absolute drought was only 15 days, but 
at all other stations it exceeded 20 days, and at Hillington, in Nor- 
folk, it reached 30 days. At Rothamsted there was one long period 
of 24 days, followed by a shorter one of 15 days. The partial drought 
in the eastern counties lasted for over 80 days at four out of the five 
stations, the longest spell being at Hillington, where it extended 
over 92 days. In the South-western counties of England the drought, 
though less continuous than in the eastern districts, was upon the 
whole rather more severe. In place of one long period of intensely 
dry weather, there were in most cases two or three, each lasting for 
15 or 20 days. At Falmouth there was one absolute drought of 15 
days in March, followed by another of 23 days in April, and by a 
third of 20 days between May and June. The partial drought was 
also divided by intervals of copious rainfall, excepting at Falmouth, 
where it lasted continuously over a period of 113 days. In most of 
the cases there was one long drought lasting between 50 and 7 0 days 
in the early part of the period, followed by a shorter one of about 
35 days between the months of May and June. 
The district most seriously affected was, however, undoubtedly 
the south of England, or rather that portion of it bounded by 
Dorsetshire in the west, Wiltshire, Berkshire, and Middlesex in the 
north, and Kent in the east. In an absolute degree the severity of 
the drought varied in different localities, some places being exposed 
to one long period of rainless weather, while others experienced two 
or even three spells of a shorter duration. The longest absolute 
period was at Hurst Castle, where there were 59 consecutive days 
without rain, next to which comes the North Foreland with 54. 
At Dungeness and Blastings the absolute drought would have lasted 
as long as at Hurst Castle had it not been for some showers which 
fell on April 16 ; at the former station these only yielded 0 01 inch, 
and at Hastings 0 02 inch, but they were sufficient to interrupt the 
rainless periods, which would otherwise have lasted respectively for 
59 and 58 days. In London, and also at Strathfield Turgiss and 
Stowell, the longest period of rainless weather lasted for 30 days, 
but in the Metropolis it was followed in June by another spell of 
15 days. The period of partial drought was also interrupted in 
many cases by some copious rains which fell during the latter pare 
of May. At four stations out of the eight given in the district 
there was one long period ranging between 77 and 82 days, followed 
by a shorter one ranging between 29 and 36 days. At another 
station, Stowell in Dorsetshire, the longer period was alone ex- 
perienced, while at the three remaining stations there was one very 
long period exceeding in duration anything experienced in other 
parts of the district. At Hastings the partial drought continued 
for 95 days, while in London it lasted for as many as 114 days. 
The longest spell of all was, however, at Dungeness, where the 
number of days amounted to no fewer than 127, the period commenc- 
ing with February 27 and ending with July 3. 
The general state of affairs relating to the rainfall and drought 
