THE CLIMATE.

Southland Times, Issue 620, 18 January 1867, Page 7

THE CLIMATE.

T^ttTali I could gather, and from my own observation,.l[would.imagiue that all along the east _coast.pf _the. Island^from -Port-Pegasus northward," the climate is fully equal, if not superior, to that of Invercargill. I had a good opportunity of 'testing •••it"' in' every parfc'bf the coast during the five . weeks I spent in exploring the Island. : Judging from, the accounts' X heard on my return. to Invercargill, the weather on the main land must have been less 'fine than that I had experienced ; nor do I imagine that a larger quantity of rain Jails there than ori^ the main. That drizzling rain is frequent is not' surprising, seeing ! that the high range of hills running down the. centre of the Island naturally attracts and holds the cloudy vapours floating about, which are in : some 1 measure again discharged before being dissipated on the rising of the sun ; but it is generally only an early shower, light and not lasting, which more assists than retards vegetation. I have no doubt that as the forests get cleared away in the progress of settlement, the climate will improve in this particular. From my experience, I would imagine the thermometer rises higher in the bays and bights on the Island than at , lnvercargill.' ;. The Bats on the east coast are sheltered from the. westerly gales by the high ranges already alluded to. The slopes of the hills have, as a rule, a north-easterly aspect, and the rays of the sun being concentrated by the contracted space into which they are poured, the heat obtained is greater. On more than one occasion I noticed how well sheltered the land in these bays is, when it was blowing half a gale outside.