386 
ST. HELENA. 
and they radiate that heat at night, a very oven on a large scale. 
The oppressiveness of the air is moreover increased when occasionally 
the trade wind falls, and a stagnant calm prevails perhaps for five 
or six days at a time, disturbed only by a gentle north-westerly air- 
current, not strong enough to be called a wind, and at such pe- 
riods the heat appears a great deal more intense than the maximum 
of 82'6° indicated by the thermometer, but this state of things 
never lasts long enough to produce unhealthiness. Whatever bad 
and injurious atmosphere accumulates is, before it has had time to 
promote evil, swept away by a fresh outburst of that pure and healthy 
South-east Trade so well deserving the title of “ Doctor,” which St. 
TIelenians have given to it. The town is, moreover, naturally well 
drained and supplied with water, and it is not surprising to find that, 
with all its inconveniences during the summer months, Jamestown 
is not unhealthy. Permanent residents there suffer from relaxation, 
and its accompanying evils, and at times a low fever prevails to a 
small extent ; but this latter is chiefly confined to the very poor, and 
may be attributed to their poverty and mode of living, with insuffi- 
cient food and comforts, rather than to any effect produced bv climate. 
As might be expected, the atmosphere contains much moisture. 
Small islands, entirely surrounded by sea, must always be more or 
less damp, and this fact is as much against St. Helena as a residence 
for those who suffer from pulmonary complaints as Madeira. It 
has been observed that the pure African is more susceptible of such 
diseases than the native, but as very few instances of it occur at St. 
Helena at all, the large number of deaths which are registered must 
be attributed to seeds sown elsewhere. 
Although the European garrison has until very recently been 
chiefly quartered in the town, statistics show that soldiers suffer less 
from mortality at St. Helena than at any other colonial station, and 
but a fractional degree more than in England. 
The larger portion, or about four thousand, of the population, re- 
side on the high land, or what is called the country, at altitudes vary- 
ing from 1200 to 2000 feet. At this elevation, on the windward side, 
Longwood is situated ; and at this spot, known to historians in 
connexion with the name of Napoleon Buonaparte, the only 
systematic meteorological observations which have been recorded 
were observed during the years 1840-45 by a detachment of 
Royal Artillery, under the direction of General Sir Edward 
