Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/347

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Chap. XI.]
CLIMATE.
309
1842
October.

fishing; it was therefore probably too early in the season for the fish to enter the harbours. One evening we observed the water of the cove to be of a bright red colour; and, on examination, found it to be caused by an extraordinary multitude of a small species of cray-fish, filling the sea with their numerous progeny, at first not discernible in the mass, and probably brought here for the benefit of the fresh water, which poured into the head of the cove in a large continuous stream.

The annexed abstract from our Meteorological Journal for October, the second spring month of these regions, will serve to show that, although its mean temperature (which, in all other parts of the world is generally very nearly that of the whole year) is rather more than eight degrees lower than the temperature of April, its corresponding month in England, yet it must be borne in mind that our position was more than four degrees and a half of latitude nearer to the Pole than the Greenwich observatory; and if the difference be something greater than is due to this cause, still our observations at this place appear to contradict the general assertion that the southern hemisphere is colder by ten degrees than the northern. The range of temperature near Cape Horn in October is from 56° to 30°. In April, in England, it is much wider—from 74° to 29°.

The quantity of rain gives evidence of the humidity of the climate; and although there were