PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP THE IONIAN ISLANDS. 
47 
the time of each equinox there is the usual excess of wind and 
rain. After the autumnal equinox there is generally a longish 
interval of fine weather before the winter rains set in, and after 
the vernal equinox there are also six weeks of fine weather. 
Following the former interval towards Christmas is a season 
during which heavy rains fall continually, while following the 
latter interval in June there is only a very short season of rain, 
and then fair weather and dry air till the end of September. 
The climates are, however, less certain than in the adjacent 
main lands, and long droughts occasionally take place in the 
beginning of the year. These are not necessarily unfavourable 
for the crops of the ensuing season. 
Storms in all the islands are generally very severe, but they 
are not frequent. Very heavy falls of rain sometimes take 
place in a few hours. The bad weather which is usual at the 
time of the equinox is always welcomed if it come before the 
equinox, as it is considered a prognostic of a favourable season. 
On the other hand, it is the general experience of the islands 
that if it is delayed till April, the whole summer is irregular, 
and the crops do not succeed. This general experience, how- 
ever, appears to have been contradicted by the present season. 
In all the islands it is considered that the winds, when they 
once establish themselves steadily from the north or south, 
remain in the same quarter for many months. Thus, when 
during the early part of winter, in November and December, 
there is a gradual settlement of the wind till it blows almost 
always from northern quarters, the winter remains dry, clear, 
cold, and fine, with little rain, till the end of February. If a 
disturbance takes place, it rarely lasts forty-eight hours, and 
then the same fine weather recurs. On the other hand, if the 
south winds prevail, there is a warm, damp winter, with much 
rain. Occasional changes will bring one or two clear, cold 
days ; but on the whole, there is more cloud and less evapora- 
tion than in the other event. 
The islands differ from each other a good deal in climate, 
and that of Santa Maura, though so near, is not the same as 
that of the mainland of Greece. It is described as being 
always more pleasant and insular, cooler in summer and less 
cold in winter. The result is seen in the greater fertility of the 
island, and its richer and more varied crops. Corfu being more 
to the north, and more directly under the influence of the 
Albanian snow-mountains, is very different from all the others, 
and the air during winter is often cool, and even very sharp. 
The quantity of water in the various channels and gulfs and 
other inlets with which the islands abound, is greatly affected 
by the winds. After a continuance of wind from northerly 
quarters, it falls so low that hundreds of acres of land are left 
