Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/292

286 286 DR. JOHN SCOULER. little of it. We had generally favourable breezes & when we made land we had Royal set. 15 February. This forenoon we had the pleasure of seeing a vessel & the weather was so fine in Lat. S. as to allow us to visit them in the boat. We were, however, sadly dissapointed as it proved to be Portuguese brig of war, bound for Brazil. They did not think fit to stop to give us any information. One of the men while fighting with his companion had the misfortune to dislocate the acromial extremity of his clavical. 30 March. To-day we spoke a small French vessel bound for the Great Bank of Newfoundland. We visited them & had the satisfaction of hearing that all was well at home, & obtained a supply of potatoes. The climate of the Columbia district of the N. W. coast differs very much from that of the eastern coast of America in the same latitude. The heat of summer is very mod- erate, not any hotter than an English summer. In winter the temperature is very moderate & the frost is seldom severe ; the rain, however, is incessant. The following tables will convey a pretty good idea of the weather of the Columbia. The following tables exhibit the quantity of rain that falls on this part of the N. W. coast. If the numbers be correct, as I have every reason to believe they are, thus it will beseen that the quantity of rain which falls here is equal to what falls on the Equator. The rain gauge was placed in an open place & the quantity of water it con- tained was weighed every month :