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 temperature is as cool as could be desired. All who know it by experience speak in high terms of the climate of the Isle of France.

3. CAPE OF GOOD HOPE—Of all the places frequented by invalids from India,none is so much resorted to as the Cape; and few have experienced it who have not spoken in its praise. Great facilities are offered by the numerous fine passenger ships of getting there, and the voyage of two months contributes materially to convalescence.

4. CLIMATE AND SEASONS.— The seasons are of course reversed, compared with those of the northern hemisphere. The sun is north at noon. August, September and October are its spring; November, December, and January its summer, February, March and April its autumn; May, June, and July its winter. Upon the whole, its climate may be called a warm one. In winter the thermometer seldom falls lower than 40°. Ice is unknown; and even hoar frost is to be seen only on its mountain tops; the orange, the citron, and the lime ripen their fruit in the open air in winter; and the vineyards bring forth the finest grapes in summer. It is dry rather than moist, and several months together often pass without a shower. The soil is upon the whole dry and arid; fertile spots form the exception, not the generality; a great proportion of the country is covered with bush; a tree higher than one's head is a rarity; the