BORNEO 
229 
west-south-west wind, and is steady from December to 
March, when it blows more northerly. The south-east 
monsoon is prevalent from April to October, and brings 
the greatest amount of rain, though thunderstorms—of 
which there are on the average about fifty in the year— 
occur most frequently in December or at the change of 
the monsoon. There is, strictly speaking, no dry season 
on the island, although droughts—some of which have 
been severe-—sometimes occur. 
In British North Borneo the wet season is from 
October to February, and April and May are the driest 
months. Eain occurs, however, at all seasons, and even 
during the severe drought which affected Borneo, 
Sumatra, and the Peninsula in 1885, the longest rain¬ 
less period registered in Sandakan was twenty-two days. 
The mean annual rainfall of that town is 124 inches, 
and the showers are sometimes extremely heavy. Thus 
in June, 1884, over 2 inches fell in forty minutes, and in 
January, 1886, 9 inches were registered in twenty-four 
hours. Mr. Whitehead, who spent eight months on 
Mount Kinabalu, records that the weather was extremely 
wet. Sometimes rain fell for three days without ceasing, 
and .the general average was six hours per diem, generally 
from 1 p.m. to nightfall. The maximum temperature on 
this coast is considerably higher than that of Java, vary¬ 
ing from 81° in February to 93° Fahr. in April. In 
point of healthiness, Borneo must, on the whole, be con¬ 
sidered more trying to European constitutions than any 
country hitherto described, although it is probably 
superior to New Guinea and to some parts of Sumatra. 
The large area of low and marshy land, subject to alter¬ 
nate flood and drought, the heavy rainfall, and, in the 
new settlements, the disturbing of the soil, combine to 
generate malarial fevers, which, though not nearly so fatal 
