The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

CLIMATE. 21
at York, beyond tlie Pennine range, it is only 29 inches. Still more considerable
are the difierences between the lowlands and the mountainous districts. In the
west of Great Britain and in Ireland, in the immediate neighbourhood of high
hills, the average rainfall is from 80 to 150 inches, and in certaia localities it is
higher. Thus at the Stye, in Cumberland, 950 feet above the level of the sea,
2'34 inches of rain fell in 1866, a quantity immensely in excess of what has been
recorded in any other part of the temperate zone, and exceeded only by the
downpour at certain localities lying within the topics.*
It was Mr. Daltou who first observed that the rainfall in the British Isles is
most considerable in autumn, and not in summer, as in Central Europe. There
are, however, a few stations where, owing to local causes, the maximum occurs in
winter or in summer.
The variability and uncertainty of the climate of Great Britain are frequently
dwelt upon as a great disadvantage, but a dispassionate inquiry, and, above all, a
comparison with other lands, popularlj' supposed to be more favourably circum-
stanced, must convince us that there are equal countervailing advantages. Sudden
changes of temperature and moisture may prove hurtful in the case of certain
diseases, but the climate upon the whole is favourable to the development of the
physical powers, and hence of the moral and intellectual endowments of man.
King Charles II. was not far wrong when, in answer to some disparaging remarks
of his courtiers, who extolled the climates of Italy, Spain, and France, at the
expense of that of England, he said he thought "that was the best climate
where he could be abroad in the air with pleasure, or at least without trouble and
inconvenience, the most days of the year and the most hours of the day ; and this
he thought he could be in England more than in any other country in Europe." f
* Average EAraFALL in Inches.
Winter.
Eastern slope of Great Britain
Spring. Summer. Autumn. Year.
:—
Edinburgh oS 0-3
7-4
York
5-1 51
11-4
Oxford
4-S 4-.5
7-3
London -I'O 3-8
5-8
HuU
3-2 2-1
5-8
South Coast :
—
Gosport
8'2
Penzance 141
Western slope of Great Britain :
— 7
Liverpool "'S
Manchester 81
Lancaster
11'2
Kendal
16-1
Seathwaite (Borrowdalo) . . 43-0
Whitehaven
12-7
Glasgow o"3
Ireland ;
"West Port
limerick
Armagh
Dublin
—
12-3
7'
9'6
6-8
6-9
9-4
2
9
6-8
5-9
t Sir W. Temple, Works, iii . p.
9-9
11 2
12-7
33-2
13-7
6-4
9-3
8-9
81
220.
10-1
14-0
10-8
10-6
11-7
15-3
43-2
13-8
5-8
10-1
10-1
9-4
8-5