252 
CLIMATE. 
the continent of Australia is remarkably deficient in springs 
and streams, and liable to frequent droughts, New Zealand, 
intercepting the clouds from the east, has a never-failing 
supply of moisture, which insures its fertility and certainty 
of crops. This may account in some measure for the extreme 
aridity of Australia, and the humidity of New Zealand. It 
is indeed a land of rivers and springs ; where can we discover 
a country better watered ? The climate is moist, but this is 
chiefly the case where the country is the narrowest; on this 
account the quantity of rain which falls at Auckland is much 
greater than that at Wellington, and the least on the western 
and eastern coasts. 
It is generally said there are ten degrees difference between 
the northern and southern hemispheres, the latter being so 
much colder than the former. As far as my experience goes, 
it is not correct; this does not apply either to New Holland 
or New Zealand. The chief difference between these islands, 
and lands in a similar northern latitude, appears in the latter, 
having a greater amount of summer heat and winter cold 
to that of New Zealand; in the warmest part, the thermo¬ 
meter seldom rises beyond 80° in summer, or sinks below 40° 
in winter. There is occasionally ice as thick as half-a-crown, 
but that is of seldom occurrence ; in general, though the 
nights of winter are cold, the days are delightfully warm and 
fine. In the southern parts of New Zealand, the prevailing 
character of the winter is cold wind and rain ; in the parts 
where the island attains a greater width, there are generally 
three frosty nights at the full of the moon. In the interior, the 
winter’s cold is greater, and the frosts more frequent, but 
the days are warm and fine. There also in summer, the heat is 
greater than on the coast. The snow occasionally falls in some 
parts of the Middle Island, but does not remain in the North 
Island; it does not fall near the coast, only on the interior 
elevated plains. During a period of fourteen years, once 
only have a few flakes fallen at Wanganui, in the night, but 
it was only seen on the hills until sunrise. 
The two highest mountains in the Northern Island are 
Tongariro and Taranaki. The snow line is about 7,000 feet 
