7 ^ 
CLIMATE 
The climate of New Zealand is decidedly tem- 
perate; neither exposed to scorching heats in 
summer, nor to blasting frosts in winter ; though 
the summer is warm, and the winter cold. It is 
no doubt salubrious, and congenial to European 
constitutions. Those who come here sickly, are 
soon restored to health: the healthy become 
robust, and the robust fat. North of the Thames, 
snows are unknown ; and frosts are off the ground 
l)y nine o’clock in the morning. The country, 
during six months in the year, is subject to 
heavy gales from the east and north-east, which 
usually last for three days, and are accompa- 
nied with tremendous falls of rain. These gales 
generally commence in the east ; and gradually 
haul round to the north-west, where they termi- 
nate in a violent gust, almost approaching to a 
hurricane: the clouds then pass away, and the 
westerly wind blows again with some violence. 
In the wunter season, the moon rarely either 
changes or wanes without raising one of these 
tempestuous gales; and, during the whole year, 
the wind is sure to blow, though it may be only 
for a few hours, from the east, every full and 
change of the moon. 
The spring and autumn are delightfully tem- 
perate; but subject to showers from the w.s.w. 
Indeed, however fine the summer may be, we are 
frequently visited by refreshing rains, which give 
a peculiar richness to the vegetation, and fer- 
