CHAPTER II
CLIMATE
As already indicated, a country of such diverse physical features and of such vast extent naturally presents a rich variety of climate. Rangoon and the maritime districts, as well as the plain country up to about the latitude of the northern limit of Henzada, are hot and moist. South of the southern edge of Henzada and Tharrawaddy, the Delta districts and the plains of the Pegu division have a mean annual rainfall of about 100 inches; fairly evenly distributed locally and remarkably consistent, the average being, however, substantially exceeded in Pegu and Hanthawaddy. The sea board districts of Arakan and Tenasserim[1] have torrential rains in even greater abundance. In the last four years[2], the annual average of these districts has exceeded 200 inches, Kyaukpyu alone falling a little short of that figure. The maximum average of those years was 253 inches in Akyab; the highest recorded rainfall in 1920 being at Palaw in Mergui, 279·17 inches. In this wet country, the rains, brought by the south-west monsoon, last approximately from May to October; they have never been known to fail to so dangerous a degree as to threaten the rice crop of Lower Burma. Welcomed at first as a relief after the steamy heat of May, the rains soon become monotonous. By the middle of August, with a rich growth of fungus on one's boots, one begins to tire of them. But it does not always rain day and night. On most days, either the morning or the evening is fine and gives opportunity for exercise. Cyclones are not very frequent visitors. In 1902, early in May, occurred one of great violence which, in Rangoon,
