The Solomon Islands and Their Natives Part 47

RAIN-REGISTER AT SANTA ANNA.

(Kept by Mr. Charles Sproul[503] between October 25th, 1882, and December 31st, 1883.)

[503] I am indebted to Mr. William Heughan for commencing this register.

The rain-gauge used was of the common round funnel pattern (57 inches).

The observations were made at Port Mary on the west side of the island.

The elevation of the guage was some four or five feet (or less) above the high tide level.

+------------------+---------------+-------------+-----------+ MONTH. Total in Number of Greatest inches and rainy daily hundredths. days.[504] fall. +------------------+---------------+-------------+-----------+ 1882. October, 25th-31st 306 5 170 November 706 15 197 December 1396 24 224 ----- -- Total, 2462 Total, 44 1883. January 523 12 203 February 963 20 200 March 440 13 84 April 1496 24 322 May 1128 16 333 June 2688 19 773 July 1861 23 345 August 1174 15 202 September 481 12 252 October 568 9 167 November 657 11 120 December 524 8 168 ------ --- Total, 12503 Total, 182 +------------------+---------------+-------------+-----------+

[504] By _rainy days_ are meant those days on which not less than 2/100 of an inch of rain were measured.

_Results for 1883._--_Total rainfall_ for 1883; 12503 inches.

Two-thirds of the total fall, _i.e._, 8347 inches, were recorded during the five months from April to August. _Greatest daily fall_, 773 inches. _Total number of rainy days_ 182, _i.e._, one half of the year.

On 41 days, more than an inch of rain fell.

RAIN-REGISTER AT UGI.

(Kept by Mr. Fred Howard between October 1st, 1882, and December 31st, 1883.)

The rain-gauge used was of the round funnel pattern (about 5 inches).

The observations were made at the residence of Mr. John Stephens at Selwyn Bay on the west side of the island. The elevation of the gauge was from four to six feet above the high-tide level.

+-----------+---------------+-------+----------+---------------+ Relative Number humidity Total in of Greatest taking 100 as MONTH. inches and rainy daily saturation hundredths. days. fall. (see table, p. 367) +-----------+---------------+-------+----------+---------------+ 1882. October 1068 18 245 November 1016 16 460 December 957 21 136 ------ --- Total, 3041 55 1883. January 1346 16 575 (83) February 1389 17 400 82 March 1002 16 300 83 April 2328 26 300 88 May 639 9 165 83 June 1283 12 370 84 July 2460 25 285 89 August 1576 15 475 83 September 736 14 150 81 October 515 7 175 76 November 530 11 110 79 December 820 10 130 83 ------ --- Total, 14624 178 +-----------+---------------+-------+----------+---------------+

_Results._--During the last quarter of 1882, the rainfall was 3041 inches; and the number of rainy days was 55.

During 1883, the _total rainfall_ was 14624 inches. The greatest monthly records were those of April and July: during these two months 4788 inches fell, or about one-third of the total fall for the year.

The _greatest daily fall_ was 575 inches. The _total number of rainy days_ was 178, or about one half of the number of days in the year. On 56 days more than an inch of rain fell; and in 18 days more than two inches fell.

RAIN-REGISTER KEPT ON BOARD H.M.S. "LARK."

(I am indebted to Lieutenant Leeper for a.s.sistance in keeping this register.)

The rain-gauge was raised about eleven feet above the water-level. I did not commence these observations until towards the close of the first season; and since, during the two following years, we spent about two-thirds of each year in this region, the record is, in consequence, not continuous.

(_A_) OFF THE NORTH COAST OF ST. CHRISTOVAL AND THE NEIGHBOURING ISLANDS IN 1882.

Total in Number Greatest inches and of rainy daily 1882. hundredths. days. fall.

Sept. (from the 9th), 1840 15 332 October, 1084 21 238 Nov. (to the 21st), 1831 12 574 ------ -- Total, 4755 48

_Results._--_Total Rainfall_ for this interval of 74 days from Sept. 9th to Nov. 21st, 1882, was 4755 inches. The _greatest daily fall_ was 574 inches. The _number of rainy days_ was 48, or about two-thirds of the whole. On 17 days, more than an inch of rain fell; and on 8 days, more than two inches fell.

(_B_) OFF THE NORTH COAST OF ST. CHRISTOVAL AND THE NEIGHBOURING ISLANDS IN 1883.

Total in Number Greatest inches and of rainy daily 1883. hundredths. days. fall.

April 13th-30th, 1043 15 162

(_C_) BOUGAINVILLE STRAITS IN 1883.

Total in Number Greatest inches and of rainy daily 1883. hundredths. days. fall.

June, 1632 26 223 July, 1025 24 212 August, 778 23 110 September, 1507 22 220 October, 1101 25 210 ------ --- Total, 6043 120

_Results._--During these 153 days, there fell 6043 inches of rain. The greatest fall in one day was 223 inches. The total number of rainy days was 120, or about four-fifths of the whole. On 14 days, more than an inch of rain fell; and on 7 days, more than two inches fell.

(_D_) BOUGAINVILLE STRAITS IN 1884.

Total in Number Greatest inches and of rainy daily 1884. hundredths. days. fall.

April (from the 8th), 782 12 432 May, 402 17 102 June, 922 22 158 July, 1816 19 809 August, 1187 21 258 September, 1746 23 376 October, 1095 23 184 ------ --- Total, 7950 137

_Results._--During these 207 days, there fell 7950 inches of rain. The greatest daily fall was 809 inches. The total number of rainy days was 137, or about two-thirds of the whole. On 24 days, more than an inch of rain fell; and on 7 days, more than two inches fell.

OBSERVATIONS[505] OF THE BAROMETER AND THERMOMETER IN THE SOLOMON GROUP, BY LIEUT. LEEPER, R.N.

(Taken on board H.M.S. "Lark.")

[505] The observations were taken at 4 a.m., 8 a.m., 4 p.m., and 8 p.m.

+-------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ THERMOMETER. BAROMETER. +--------+-------+------+--------+-------+------+ Highest. Lowest. Daily Highest. Lowest. Daily Mean. Mean. MONTH. +-------------------+--------+-------+------+--------+-------+------ 1882 In. In. In. April, 94 74 844 3009 2988 30041 May, 94 78 845 3009 2989 29994 June, 92 77 837 3018 2986 30013 July, 90 75 818 3014 2992 3005 August, 94 75 811 3016 2996 30067 September, 92 76 809 3014 2993 30041 October, 89 77 814 3018 2988 30021 Nov. 1st to 22d,. 88 78 815 3013 2984 29981 +-------------------+--------+-------+------+--------+-------+------+ 1883 April 14th to 30th, 92 75 821 3008 2986 29974 May, ... ... ... ... ... ... June, 93 78 818 3008 2991 2999 July, 94 75 823 3012 2988 2996 August, 92 78 835 3008 2992 29992 September, 95 76 826 3010 2991 29992 October, 95 75 833 3012 2986 29993 Nov. 1st to 12th, 90 76 815 3008 2991 29982 +-------------------+--------+-------+------+--------+-------+------+ 1884 April 5th to 30th, 90 76 822 3015 2983 29984 May, 95 78 845 3013 2986 29992 June, 94 77 822 3014 2993 30023 July, 87 76 815 3010 2987 29985 August, 87 76 810 3015 2985 30009 September, 90 75 823 3015 2992 30025 October, 96 75 811 3012 2985 30007 +-------------------+--------+-------+------+--------+-------+------+

Results calculated from observations of the temperature in the shade, and of the wet and dry bulb thermometers taken at Ugi at 9 a.m., by Mr. F. Howard.[506]

[506] The instruments were supplied by me. The Thermometer was by Negretti and Zambra: and the wet and dry bulbs were good reliable instruments. They were all first compared with the ship's instruments, which were supplied by the Meteorological Office after being verified at Kew.

+--------------------------------++ THERMOMETER IN SHADE. +---------+--------+-------+-----++ MONTH. Highest. Lowest. Mean. +---------+--------+-------+-----++ 1882. October 87 76 817 November 84 78 805 December 84 80 814 1883. January 86 79 820 February 85 79 815 March 86 78 818 April 83 76 800 May 85 78 816 June 84 77 806 July 83 77 802 August 84 77 803 September 84 77 809 October 85 76 820 November 86 77 820 December 84 79 813 +---------+--------+-------+-----++ 812--Mean for 1883.

+---------++--------------------------------------------------+ HYGROMETER.[507] +---------++-----+-----+------+---------------+---------------+ Mean Mean Mean Mean Elastic Mean Relative MONTH. Dry Wet Dew Force of Humidity, Bulb. Bulb. Point. Aqueous Vapour. Saturation 100. +---------++-----+-----+------+---------------+---------------+ 1882. October ... ... ... ... ... November ... ... ... ... ... December ... ... ... ... ... 1883. January ... ... ... ... ... February 816 780 756 885 82 March 817 783 760 898 83 April 801 778 762 904 88 May 816 782 759 895 83 June 806 775 754 880 84 July 802 780 764 912 89 August 803 769 746 857 83 September 809 769 742 846 81 October 820 770 736 830 76 November 820 778 749 867 79 December 814 780 757 891 83 +---------++-----+-----+------+---------------+---------------+

[507] Calculated from Glaisher's Tables.

WIND-RECORD FOR EACH MONTH.

Prepared from the observations taken on board H.M.S. "Lark," and by Messrs. Sproul and Howard, at Santa Anna and Ugi.