Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/106

88 which fell there between April, 1841, and February, 1842, was only 34.49 inches; from which he draws the conclusion that New Zealand has a rainy climate, and may be ranked in this respect with several places in England.

It certainly proves, as might have been anticipated, that a much greater quantity of rain falls at the northern than at the southern parts of the island; for the heaviest falls of rain occur during northerly winds, which come from the equatorial regions, fully charged with moisture, of which a large proportion is precipitated as it passes over the first land it meets.

Dr. Dieffenbach states the mean temperature of the whole year at Wellington to be 58.2, and the mean temperature of the three months of spring 57.7, a remarkable accordance with the results and inferences obtained from our observations at the Bay of Islands; and I can therefore with the more confidence quote from him the following table, showing the mean temperature of each month, which, although derived from only one year's observations, will probably be not far from the truth, in a climate which seems to possess an unusual degree of uniformity.