Dr. Yale Massey sends me the following information from his Mission station in the Benguela district, at 4,700 feet, lat. _circa_ 12° S.; and long. 17° E. “The distinctly wet months are from October to April inclusive, and this is also the hot season. There are usually a few showers in September, and rarely some in May, and during the dry season there is usually a strong breeze. In the wet season the mid-day temperature ranges from 80° to 100° F., at night from 45° to 60° F.; while during the dry weather the mid-day temperature is from 70° to 90° F., and at night even slight frost may occur. As might be expected from the elevation and climate, this is a generally healthy locality, but there is a certain amount of fever, most of the cases occurring in April and May.” _East Coast._--The reputation borne by the east coast is scarcely more enviable than that of the western, the accounts of travellers voyaging on the Zambesi being generally alternate wails on attacks of mosquitoes and upsets from hippopotami. The rainfall is, however, much lighter, and at corresponding latitudes the temperatures generally seem somewhat lower. Owing to the presence of a considerable Arab element, the population have attained, in some places, a larger grade of civilisation than is the case on the west coast, so that the introduction of hygienic measures might be somewhat more practicable, albeit that Arab civilisation, _per se_, has hardly reached the stage of promoting sanitation. The two following tables of a tropical and subtropical station, each on this coast, will give some general conception of the conditions prevailing. ZANZIBAR ISLAND. LAT. _circa_ 7° 30′ S. =========+=============+=============+================ Month | Mean Maximum| Mean Minimum| Rainfall | Temperature | Temperature | ---------+------+------+------+------+-----+---------- | F. | ~C.~ | F. | ~C.~ |Ins. | ~Mm.~ ---------+------+------+------+------+-----+---------- January | 86·1 |~30·0~| 79·6 |~26·5~| 3·26| ~82·6~ February | 87·0 |~30·6~| 80·3 |~26·8~| 1·51| ~38·3~ March | 86·3 |~30·2~| 79·3 |~26·3~| 6·24| ~159·1~ April | 84·7 |~29·3~| 77·6 |~25·4~|11·94| ~303·3~ May | 82·4 |~28·0~| 75·6 |~24·3~|10·23| ~250·2~ June | 81·5 |~27·5~| 74·2 |~23·5~| 1·36| ~34·7~ July | 80·2 |~26·8~| 72·7 |~22·6~| 2·75| ~69·8~ August | 81·8 |~27·0~| 72·7 |~22·6~| 1·68| ~43·0~ September| 82·0 |~27·8~| 73·4 |~23·0~| 2·10| ~53·3~ October | 83·2 |~28·1~| 75·3 |~24·0~| 3·74| ~95·1~ November | 83·7 |~28·7~| 77·1 |~25·1~| 8·23| ~209·1~ December | 85·8 |~29·8~| 79·5 |~26·4~| 4·18| ~106·3~ ---------+------+------+------+------+-----+---------- Year | 83·6 |~28·7~| 76·4 |~24·6~|57·25|~1,454·2~ =========+======+======+======+======+=====+========== NATAL, DURBAN. LAT. 29° 50′ S.; NEAR SEA-LEVEL. (1902.)