The wind, for the greatest part of the year, blows from between east south-east, and east north-east. This is the true trade wind, or what the natives call _Maaraee_; and it sometimes blows with considerable force. When this is the case, the weather is often cloudy, with showers of rain; but when the wind is more moderate, it is clear, settled, and serene. If the wind should veer farther to the southward, and become south-east, or south south-east, it then blows more gently, with a smooth sea, and is called _Maoai_. In those months, when the sun is nearly vertical, that is, in December and January, the winds and weather are both very variable; but it frequently blows from west north-west, or north-west. This wind is what they call _Toerou_; and is generally attended by dark, cloudy weather, and frequently by rain. It sometimes blows strong, though generally moderate; but seldom lasts longer than five or six days without interruption; and is the only wind in which the people of the islands to leeward come to this, in their canoes. If it happens to be still more northerly, it blows with less strength, and has the different appellation of _Erapotaia_; which they feign to be the wife of the _Toerou_; who, according to their mythology, is a male. The wind from south-west, and west south-west, is still more frequent than the former; and though it is, in general, gentle, and interrupted by calms, or breezes from the eastward, yet it sometimes blows in brisk squalls. The weather attending it is commonly dark, cloudy, and rainy, with a close, hot air; and often accompanied by a great deal of lightning and thunder. It is called _Etoa_, and often succeeds the _Toerou_; as does also the _Farooa_, which is still more southerly, and, from its violence, blows down houses and trees, especially the cocoa-palms, from their loftiness; but it is only of short duration. The natives seem not to have a very accurate knowledge of these changes, and yet pretend to have drawn some general conclusions from their effects; for they say when the sea has a hollow sound, and dashes slowly on the shore, or rather on the reef without, that it portends good weather; but, if it has a sharp sound, and the waves succeed each other fast, that the reverse will happen.