=========+=========+=========+===========+=============+=========== Month | Mean | Mean | Mean | Monthly | Direction | Monthly | Maximum | Minimum | Rainfall | of | Tempera-| Tempera-| Tempera- | | Wind | ture | ture | ture | | +--+------+--+------+----+------+-----+-------+ |F.| ~C.~ |F.| ~C.~ | F. | ~C.~ | Ins.| ~Mm.~ | ---------+--+------+--+------+----+------+-----+-------+----------- January |89|~31·7~|91|~32·8~|75 |~23·9~|11·68|~296·7~| N.W. February |86|~30·0~|90|~32·2~|72 |~22·2~|11·88|~301·2~| N.W. March |86|~30·0~|90|~32·2~|74 |~23·3~|10·15|~257·8~| N.W. April |86|~30·0~|88|~31·1~|74 |~23·3~| 2·40| ~61·0~|N.W. & S.E. May |86|~30·0~|87|~30·6~|72 |~22·2~| 2·96| ~73·0~| S.E. June |83|~28·3~|87|~30·6~|71 |~21·7~| Wanting | S.E. July |82|~27·8~|83|~28·3~|68·5|~20·3~| 5·94|~151·0~| S.E. August |84|~28·9~|82|~27·8~|68 |~20·0~| 1·45| ~36·8~| S.E. September|85|~29·4~|86|~30·0~|71 |~21·7~| 0·12| ~2·7~| S.E. October |84|~28·9~|87|~30·6~|71 |~21·7~| 0·16| ~4·0~| S.E. November |88|~31·1~|88|~31·1~|71 |~21·7~| 0·60| ~15·2~| S.E. December |88|~31·1~|91|~32·8~|73 |~22·8~| 6·88|~174·8~| N.W. =========+==+======+==+======+====+======+=====+=======+=========== The rainfall, therefore, appears to be from 56-60 ins., and the reporter remarks:-- “On the sea coast, the experience so far gained seems to prove that the climate of the western portion (of the island) is rainy. Port Moresley is apparently near the centre of a dry belt that extends 100-150 miles along the coast. Eastward of this the climate becomes more rainy as far as the East Cape. The north-east coast, as far as Cape Nelson, is drier, and beyond this again, more rainy--Mamlaro is a wet district. As far as known, the mountain region is more rainy. Thunder storms are more frequent and mist and drizzle also prevail on the high lands.” Exploration in New Guinea is, however, a pursuit which requires the traveller to brave to an exceptional extent the dangers of poisonous snakes and other venomous vermin. Capt. I. A. Lawson (“Wanderings in the Interior of New Guinea,” Chapman and Hall, London, 1875) describes an apparently undoubted case of death from scorpion sting in an adult, and states that large numbers of Papuans are killed by them. He saw several scorpions ten inches long. The patient became comatose. After about three hours, thin watery, almost colourless, blood began to flow from his ears, eyes and nose, which exhaled a horrible stench, and the man died. He measured one scorpion thirteen inches long, and a second exceeded ten inches.