Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/350

312 only six days in which neither rain nor snow fell, the showers were seldom as heavy or of as long continuance as at New Zealand. But, according to Captain King's account, there is a rainy season here as in other regions; for he states that in the month of May eight inches and a quarter of rain were found in Captain Foster's pluviameter at the end of thirty days, and when allowance is made for evaporation, he considers that no less than twelve inches must have fallen during that time. It would be better to register the indication of the pluviameter daily, and thus obtain a more accurate knowledge of the evaporation and deposition of the moisture of the atmosphere. The mean temperature of the dew point shows 5°.8 dryness; it is therefore greater than at New Zealand, and rather less than in England, where in April it amounts to 6°.4.

The mean height of the barometer was 29.293 inches, and its range during the month, 1.55 inches. The observations did not extend over a sufficient space of time to enable us to determine the amount of atmospheric tide: it is, however, small, not exceeding .026 of an inch, the least pressure occurring about noon, and the greatest near midnight.

The prevailing winds are from the S.W., and we had four storms attended with snow, during which the gusts, or "williwaws," were so fierce as to carry the spray far higher than the mast-heads of our ship, although less than a quarter of a mile from the weather shore; and when they struck her on the