coast this order of things is reversed, and the rainy season is from November to February."* Nicaragua. -Observations were made, during the progress of the survey for a ship-canal in Nicaragua, in 1850-51, by the gentlemen connected with that enterprise. These observations were confined to the isthmus which lies between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific, at a point where the trade winds, sweeping through the valley of the San Juan River, and over Lake Nicaragua, find no high mountains to precipitate their moisture until they reach the volcanic peaks of Ometepec and Madeira. Hence it happens that this Isthmus of Rivas receives a greater amount of rain annually than any other portion of the Pacific coast of Central America. OBSERVATIONS AT RIVAS, NICARAGUA—1850–51. * Bosquejo de la Republica de Costa Rica, etc., por Felipe Molina, p. 28. Galindo (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, vol. vi., p. 134) observes that the climate of Costa Rica is exceedingly varied, ranging from 50° to 60° of Fahr., according to the elevation. The mean was in the month of May, and was 23°. range for the year, however, was only 15°. at no time of the year is as great as it is during the summer months in New York. For June, July, and August of 1850, the mean average range of the thermometer at the town of Lansingburg, New York, was 71° 5', the mean highest 93° 66', the mean lowest 47° 33', and the mean range 46° 33'. At Jamaica, Long Island, for July and August of the same year, the mean average was 75° 15', the mean highest 95° 50', the mean lowest 61° 50', and the mean range 43° 27'. In respect of rain, the principal surveyor has given us the result of careful admeasurements made at Rivas for one year, from September 9th, 1850, to September 25th, 1851. The amount was taken in inches and decimals, and is as follows: For the exact year, from September 9th, 1850, to September 9th, 1851, the amount of rain was 97.71 inches. The whole number of days during which rain fell was 139, and the whole number of dry days was 226. During the six months, from May to October inclusive, distinguished as the wet season, the whole fall was 90.89 inches, and during the remaining six months, distinguished as the dry season, only 6.82 inches. But these observations, as I have said, were made at Rivas, under the lee of the volcano of Ometepec, where more rain falls than at Granada or Leon, in the northern portion of the state. At Rivas there was but one month, February, in which no rain fell. In 1850, in Leon, no rain fell for three months, from the first of January to the first of April. The average annual fall of rain and snow in the State of New York, during the ten years preceding 1846, according to the report of the Regents of the University, is 34.14 inches. The greatest fall in any one year during that period was 37.04 inches, and the least 32.10 inches. Honduras.-The northern and eastern coast of Honduras has unquestionably a higher temperature than any other portion of the state; it however diminishes rapidly as we penetrate inland. The modifying influence of the neighboring mountains is felt even before the increase in altitude becomes perceptible. Her table-lands have, of course, a climate varying with their height above the sea, and their exposure to the prevailing winds. Consequently, there can be no generalization on the subject of the climate of Honduras, except so far as to say that it has a variety adapted to every caprice, and a temperature suitable for the cultivation of the products of every zone. Among the data on this subject are the observations made by Mr. Thomas Young, at the mouth of Black River, on the Bay of Honduras, lat. 16° N., long. 85° W., for one year (1840-41?). The subjoined remark accompanies the table: "The climate here is pretty equable, only varying, throughout the year, from 62° to 86° Fahr., so that nothing need be apprehended from excessive heats, especially as, during the greater part of the year, it is C tempered by the grateful sea-breeze, and sometimes by the invigorating dry north wind. "When the northers terminate, and the sea-breeze again blows, the effect on the human frame, and indeed on every thing around, is plainly perceptible. All nature partakes of its influence, and few can tell the enjoyment expressed by the man who has been crouching round a fire in a cold wet north as he eagerly rushes out to enjoy the health-giving breeze. 99 SUMMARY OF THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS Taken daily at Noon, at the mouth of Black River, Honduras, for one Year (1840-41). Other observations were made, in 1844, on the same coast, a little to the eastward of Black River, in the vicinity of Carataska Lagoon, by a competent Prussian commission, Messrs. Müller, Fellechner, and Hesse. * "At the beginning of October, what are called the Norths commence and generally continue, with little variation, till the return of February or March. While these winds last, the mornings and evenings are cold, frequently unpleasantly so; and what in this country is understood by a wet north, might perhaps furnish no very imperfect idea of a November day in England. A dry north, on the contrary, is beautiful, agreeable, and invigorating."—Henderson's Honduras, p. 14. They were carried on from June 13th to August 2d of that year, with the following results: Observations at Carataska Lagoon from June 13th to August 2d, 1844. 6 o'clock A.M., 26° of Centigrade=78.5° of Fahr. of 27.8° of Cent., During this time E. N. E., or N.E., This is equal to an average mean 22.24° of Reaum., and 82° of Fahr. the wind blew steadily from the E., with the exception of three days (the 22d, 23d, and 24th of June) from the S. W., and one day (July 31st) from the N. W. The extreme range of the thermometer during this period was from the mean minimum of 61° Fahr., July 2d, to the mean maximum of 85° Fahr., July 4th. Captain Haly, for twenty years a resident at Cape Gracias, states that during the coldest months, viz., October, November, and December, the range of the thermometer at that point is from 60° to 65° of Fahr. At the port of Truxillo, for nearly two months, from May 8th to July 4th, 1856, the average mean of the thermometer at sunrise was 76° 5', at noon 84°, at sunset 80°, with frequent rain during the afternoons and at night. At the port of Omoa, also on the same coast, and in the same latitude, but three degrees to the westward of Black River, for one week, from the 5th to the 12th of July, 1853, the thermometer had an average of 85° Fahr. at noon; its greatest range, from six o'clock in the morning to the same hour in the evening, having been from 80° to 87°. During this period, the mornings were generally very pleasant, with showers from nine to twelve. The sea-breeze set in between twelve |