Page:Philosophical Transactions - Volume 096.djvu/307

 high, if not higher, than one from the SE; and that a north-west wind, where it came from off the sea and was moderate* was equal to either of them, and kept it up higher than the south-west wind did.

In order to have ascertained the full effects of sea and land winds upon the barometer, it was desirable to have learned, whether the south-east winds, which occasioned the mercury to rise highest upon the south and east coasts, would have left it at the medium standard, or made it descend upon the north-west and west coasts of Australia; but, unfortunately, the state of the ship did not permit me to determine this; for at the distance we kept from these coasts, in making the best of our way to Port Jackson, the accumulation of air over the shore, arising from a sea wind, or the contrary from a land wind, can scarcely be supposed to have much, if any effect The principal winds we experienced between Timor and Cape Leuwen, in the months of April and May, were from SE and SW. The south-east wind prevailed as far as the latitude 25°, and the mercury stood at first with it at 29,95; but as we advanced southward, it rose gradually to 30,25, nearly in the same way as it had before descended on the east side of Australia, when we steered northward in the month of October. This wind was succeeded by an unsteady northwardly wind, which brought the mercury down to 29,90; but on its veering by the west to SW it rose fast, and fixed itself about 30,32: we were then drawing near Cape Leuwen.

As far as this example can be admitted in proof, it appears, that a wind from the SW has an equal, if not a superior power to one at SE in raising the mercury upon the west coast; which was not the case upon the south, and still much less