Introduction: Seasons and Winds. 
29 
Sooloo Archipelago and Celebes Sea. — According to the Sailing Directory, 
easterly winds are experienced here from October till May; from May onwards 
westerly winds accompanied by “rains, squalls and tempests”, especially in July 
and August (p. 22). From van der Stok’s charts the direction of the more 
prevalent winds is seen to be southerly from June till October, and northerly 
or north-easterly from November till April. 
Philippine Islands. — The windward shores of the islands are in general 
the wet ones; thus, on the north and east coasts the most abundant rainfall 
takes place in the half-year from October till March when the N. E. Trade- 
wind is in force, while the territories to the South and West, which lie exposed 
to the S. W. Monsoon, have their rainy season during the other half-year. At 
Manila the winds vary much in the course of each day, owing to land- and 
sea-breezes. In July, August and September S. W. winds prevail, in November 
and December N. E. winds, becoming more S. E. in March and April. The town, 
being on the west coast, has its rainy season during the summer months of the 
northern hemisphere (cf. Ohs. meteor, de Manila de la Comp, de Jesus, 1870 — 73, 
1876). The following observations were obtained by Meyer from Iloilo on the 
Island of Panay. The S. W. Monsoon commences in June, exceptionally in May, 
but it does not then blow uninterruptedly. The rain falls in varying quantities, 
being sometimes heavy, at other times not so; and it may last — though this 
is the exception — for a month continuously; fourteen days in succession may 
he taken as the rule, judging from four or five occasions when this was ex- 
perienced. June — September generally afford disturbed weather; most of August 
fine. The N. E. Monsoon commences about the middle of October, and there 
is occasional rain from October to December, in January only very little; from 
the end of January till March it is dry. In April and May, when the Mon- 
soons are changing, there -are occasional thunderstorms. 
In Palawan the Monsoons are liable to much interruption, and there appears 
to be no rainy season in particular (Sail. Direct. 1870 p. 23). 
Borneo. — “Owing to the great extent of alluvial ground with which Borneo 
is nearly everywhere surrounded, to the numerous water-courses irrigating the 
land in every direction, and to the vapours arising from the dense forest with 
which most parts of the island are covered the atmosphere is always damp.” 
Land- and sea-breezes are felt far inland. The temperature is more moderate 
than might be expected ; at Pontianak in the west almost on the equator, at 
sunrise 24-5® C. (19-5° P., 76® F.), at midday not more than 33-3® C. (26-7® P., 
92® F.), mean 27-8® C. (22-2® P., 82® F.). As the island is divided by the 
equator, the northern and southern halves are subjected to the influence of 
different monsoons. 
South of the equator the character of the season is well determined by the 
particular monsoon in force. The S. E. Monsoon prevails, roughly speaking, in 
the time of our summer, and the finest months of the year, as is shown by the 
reports sent in to Dr. van der Stok from six stations in Central and S. E. Borneo, 
