[3] "The weather, during this time, was as boisterous and inconstant, as that which had so long kept us out of this harbour. Scarce a day passed without heavy squalls of wind, which hurried down with redoubled velocity from the mountains, and strong showers of rain, which retarded all our occupations. The air was commonly cold and raw, vegetation made slow advances, and the birds were only found in vallies sheltered from the chilling southern blast. This kind of weather, in all likelihood, prevails throughout the winter, and likewise far into the midst of summer, without a much greater degree of cold in the former, or of warmth in the latter season. Islands far remote from any continent, or at least not situated near a cold one, seem in general to have an uniform temperature of air, owing, perhaps, to the nature of the ocean, which every where surrounds them. It appears from the meteorological journals, kept at Port Egmont, on the Falkland Islands, (inserted in Mr Dalrymple's collection) that the extremes of the greatest cold, and the greatest heat, observed there throughout the year, do not exceed thirty degrees on Fahrenheit's scale. The latitude of that port is 51° 25' S.; and that of Ship Cove, in Queen Charlotte's Sound, only 41° 5'. This considerable difference of site will naturally make the climate of New Zealand much milder than that of Falkland's Islands, but cannot affect the general hypothesis concerning the temperature of all islands; and the immense height of the mountains in New Zealand, some of which are covered with snow throughout the year, doubtless contributes to refrigerate the air, so as to assimilate it to that of the Falkland's Islands, which are not so high."--G.F.