_Straits Settlements._--Singapore has, or had, a yacht club, “The Equatorial,” the course for whose regattas was supposed to be “the Line,” so that the climate of this colony is necessarily of the equatorial type. There is practically no seasonal change, as although the maxima of rainfall occur in March-April and December, the other months have also an amount of precipitation not far short of these specially rainy months. The annual range of temperature is under 18° F. (10° C), and though the climate is rather moist, excessive heat is never met with; the mean maximum of April, the warmest month, being but 89° F. The main climatic facts may be gathered from the subjoined table:-- SINGAPORE. LAT. 1° 16′ N.; LONG. 103° 53′ E. OBSERVATORY A FEW FEET ABOVE THE SEA. ========+===========+===========+===========+=====+==============+===== Month | Mean | Mean | Mean |Rela-| Rainfall | Num- |Temperature| Maximum | Minimum | tive| | ber | |Temperature|Temperature| Hu- | | of +----+------+----+------+----+------+midi-+-----+--------+Rainy | F. | ~C.~ | F. | ~C.~ | F. | ~C.~ | ty %| Ins.| ~Mm.~ | Days --------+----+------+----+------+----+------+-----+-----+--------+----- January |78·2|~25·7~|85·6|~29·8~|71·7|~22·0~| 79 |10·30| ~261·6~| 16 February|79·0|~26·1~|87·1|~30·6~|71·6|~21·9~| 79 | 6·18| ~156·3~| 9 March |79·9|~26·6~|88·0|~31·1~|73·3|~23·0~| 80 | 8·41| ~213·7~| 14 April |81·2|~27·3~|89·0|~31·7~|74·8|~23·7~| 79 | 8·39| ~213·5~| 15 May |82·7|~28·2~|88·9|~31·6~|76·4|~24·6~| 79 | 5·58| ~141·3~| 13 June |80·9|~27·1~|86·7|~30·4~|75·6|~24·3~| 81 | 6·37| ~161·7~| 16 July |81·7|~27·6~|87·5|~30·8~|75·4|~24·1~| 76 | 7·74| ~196·6~| 13 August |80·8|~27·0~|86·3|~30·2~|74·9|~23·8~| 78 | 6·83| ~173·0~| 14 Septem- | | | | | | | | | | ber |80·5|~26·9~|86·9|~30·5~|74·2|~23·5~| 77 | 5·83| ~148·2~| 12 October |80·4|~26·8~|87·1|~30·7~|74·1|~23·4~| 79 | 8·61| ~218·8~| 17 November|79·3|~26·3~|86·1|~30·1~|73·6|~23·2~| 82 | 9·24| ~234·5~| 18 December|77·4|~25·2~|83·2|~28·5~|73·5|~23·1~| 89 |10·84| ~275·5~| 17 Year |80·1|~26·7~|86·9|~30·5~|74·0|~26·7~| 80 |93·99|~2387~ | 174 --------+----+------+----+------+----+------+-----+-----+--------+---- | Figures for 1896 | Averages of 10 | | years ========+=========================================+=================== During January and February the wind is mainly from the north-east, but varies greatly, often veering round to the north-west. The south-west monsoon, known here as the “Java winds,” comes on about April and continues only to July, after which month, till November, the winds are again very variable, the most common directions being south-south-west, south-east, and west.