CHAPTER IX
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CHAPTER IX.
On the Climate of Cook's Straits and New Zealand in general.
In preparing these few remarks on the climate, I have had before me a nearly complete series of meteorological observations, made at Port Nicholson, taken daily at 8 a.m., at noon, and at 5 p.m., and recording the temperature and pressure of the air, the quantity of rain, the winds, and the general state of the weather during an entire year. The observations on temperature were not made with the self-registering thermometer, and therefore do not comprise the greatest degree of heat or of cold: this, however, is of little consequence. The deductions derived from the observations made at Port Nicholson will apply to the whole of New Zealand, but not without great restrictions, as it is obvious that marked differences must exist in a country extending through nearly thirteen degrees of latitude, and in which there are central and coast positions, hills covered with forest, and mountains reaching above the limits of perpetual congelation. It must also be observed that the year in which the observations were made was a very wet one, according to the testimony of the old settlers.
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CLIMATE.
New Zealand, being situated within the temperate zone, although nearer to the equator than Great Britain, possesses, from its peculiar geographical position, especially from its being insular, and also from the nature of its surface, a climate so modified as to resemble that of England more nearly than that of any other country I am acquainted with. It is moderate in every respect, the range of its temperature throughout the year and during the day being very inconsiderable. This is principally owing to the immense expanse of ocean which surrounds these narrow islands on all sides, preserving a temperature little varying, and moderating alike the cold of the antarctic regions and the heat of the tropics. The continent of Australia--for as such we must regard it--is too distant to affect the climate, which it would undoubtedly do if it were nearer, as New Zealand would then receive an air heated in its passage over the vast plains of Australia, which extend far within the tropics. In like manner the southerly winds, which, although at all times the coldest, as coming from a polar terra firma surrounded by eternal ice, are greatly tempered by the intervening ocean. If, instead of the latter, a continent extended to within a little distance of New Zealand, as Europe and Asia do with reference to England, it would produce all the phenomena of climate in which we observe England to differ from New Zealand, such as the greater cold in winter and during certain winds.
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The east coast, on which Wellington, Auckland, and the Bay of Islands are situated, is colder than the western, where the settlements of Nelson and New Plymouth have been founded, and where the air is far softer and milder. I ascertained this by actual comparisons, and in this respect the western coast must have great advantages over the eastern. In the interior of the islands the climate is colder and less changeable, in consequence of the presence of a snow-clad mountain-group and the greater distance from the ocean. I found at Taupo the acacias of Van Diemen's Land, the Ricinus palma Christi, and potatoes, affected by the frost--a circumstance which never happens near the coast; the leaves also of several trees had become yellow and deciduous; the landscape assumed an autumnal tint, although it can scarcely be said ever to have had a wintry appearance. At Wellington, on the contrary, and along the whole coast, the natives plant their potatoes at all seasons of the year, the forest remains evergreen, and the opening of the flower-buds is merely a little retarded during the season of winter, the presence of which is only indicated by more frequent rains and winds.
Owing to the continual interchange which takes place between the heated air of the equator and the cold air of the antarctic regions, an almost continual wind is kept up, which blows either from the north and the north-west, or from the south and the south-east. Out of 365 days---the entire year
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NEW ZEALAND.
--there were only twelve which could be called calm days; during 213 it blew from the north or north-west, and during 119 from the south or south-east. It is difficult to say which wind is the most violent: the south-east winds are very strong, but the most severe gales which I experienced were from the north-west. During the winter months the latter prevail; but when the sun has a southern declination southerly winds blow, in consequence of the greater degree to which the air is heated under the equator, and the current of cold air which rushes in from the south to replace it. These winds have a very beneficial effect upon the climate: no sooner is mist or fog formed than they dispel it, and thus purify the atmosphere, and prevent the collection of obnoxious exhalations; they produce also the remarkable feature of the continual chasing of clouds, and sudden alternations of rain and sunshine, which follow each other in far more rapid succession than is ever experienced in England, which has been so unjustly accused of having the most changeable weather in the world. In this respect, also, the western coast is less affected than the eastern; a violent gale has been known to blow at Wellington when there was fine weather and only light winds at Nelson.
New Zealand possesses a humid and moist climate. If we consider the immense oceanic surface which surrounds it on all sides, and from which a con-
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tinual evaporation of watery particles proceeds, and is taken up by the air, we shall readily anticipate that the atmosphere must be almost constantly at or near the point of saturation, and that when any change of temperature takes place the moisture will at once be condensed and fall in the form of rain. The wood-covered hills and the forest-lands, which constitute the greater part of New Zealand, attract this humidity, and render rains more frequent than they would perhaps be if the land were cleared. It rains in New Zealand during all the months of the year, but the greater quantity falls in winter and spring, when there is also the greatest number of rainy days. At Port Nicholson the quantity of rain from April, 1841, to February, 1842, was 34-49 inches. The quantity of rain which falls annually at London is only 23.1 inches, according to the results given by Mr. Daniell; while in the Hebrides the amount is nearly twice as large, ranging from 35 to 46 inches. Without pronouncing a decided opinion from a single series of observations, and these taken at only one place, and during ten months, I may, I think, safely draw the conclusion that New Zealand has a rainy climate, and may be ranked, in this respect, with several places in England. The quantity of rain was distributed over the months in the following manner: --
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NEW ZEALAND
| |
Ins.
|
|
Ins.
|
| February, 1841.
|
|
August
|
4.56
|
| March
|
|
September
|
4.51
|
| April
|
1.86
|
October
|
2.31
|
| May
|
3.71
|
November.
|
2.95
|
| June
|
4.12
|
December.
|
5.47
|
| July
|
3.84
|
January, 1842.
|
1.16
|
This quantity fell in 133 days, which were distributed thus: --
| |
Days
|
|
Days.
|
| February
|
|
August
|
14
|
| March
|
|
September
|
14
|
| April.
|
9
|
October
|
16
|
| May.
|
11
|
November
|
14
|
| June.
|
18
|
December
|
15
|
| July.
|
17
|
January
|
5
|
The dews are particularly heavy during the winter months, when the surface of the earth is colder in comparison to the surrounding atmosphere, than in the other months. In the interior, where there exists a long line of lakes, fogs rest upon them in the mornings, and also upon the river-courses, especially on that of the Waikato and Thames, but they are dispelled by the sun when it has risen some degrees above the horizon, or are driven away by the winds.
This great quantity of moisture accounts for the vegetation being so vigorous, even in those places where only a thin layer of vegetable earth covers the rocks. Sandy places, which in any other country would be quite barren, are covered with herbage in New Zealand; and the hills, which in lithological and geological formation resemble those of Devon-
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shire, may, in the course of time, be converted into pastures at least equalling those on the hilly portion of that county. Everywhere also trees and shrubs grow to the margin of the sea, and suffer no harm even from the salt spray. The humidity of New Zealand is not considered to have much injurious effect on animal life. Cattle and horses are in as good a condition as can be expected from the present scantiness of grass pastures: should they, however, be found to suffer from the moisture, the cattle can at all times be driven from the valleys up to the hills, where the drainage renders the ground sufficiently dry. I much doubt whether as good a report can be given regarding sheep, which always seemed to suffer from wet, as well as from want of suitable food; and it cannot be denied that this moisture, with all its beneficial influence on the vegetation of the country--which includes the tree-ferns, generally confined to the tropics, and a species of palm--will be injurious to those fruits which are claimed as the ornaments, and almost as the symbols, of southern Europe, --to the olive, the vine, and the orange; and that New Zealand does not rank higher in this respect than the south of England. The humidity will also, it is to be feared, be injurious to the silkworm.
The physical configuration of New Zealand, and the geological formation of the hills, are in general such that the rain is rapidly carried towards the coast in countless streams and rivulets: the lakes,
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NEW ZEALAND.
with which the interior of the northern island abounds, have always an outlet; and it is only in a very few places that swamps exist, and these are owing to the clayey nature of the subsoil, but they are not sufficiently important to influence the general state of the humidity of the. air, or to become insalubrious. In the neighbourhood of Port Nicholson the rain quickly percolates through the light upper soil, and feeds the numerous streamlets, which rapidly carry it off into the sea.
The temperature which, from its latitude, we should expect New Zealand to possess, is extensively modified by all the circumstances I have mentioned. The first of these is the narrow shape of both islands, which gives a very extensive coast-line, into the numberless harbours and inlets of which the sea enters; and as it preserves a certain mean and moderate temperature throughout the year, it modifies the climate of land which is surrounded by it, and uniformity of temperature is in consequence characteristic of the climate of New Zealand. It is most humid, as well as most equable, on the coasts, where also vegetation is fresher than in any other portion of the islands; there is no great heat in summer, no severe cold in winter; sometimes, indeed, in the winter nights the thermometer sinks to the freezing-point, and the stagnant waters in the interior are covered with a thin crust of ice; but during the day it is very rare that the temperature is below 40 deg.. In a moderately convenient house
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fire could be dispensed with throughout the year, but the habit of having a fire every evening, summer and winter, may very easily be acquired.
The mean temperature of July--the coldest month --was at Wellington only 48.7 deg.; the greatest cold during the day was 38 deg.; the greatest warmth 57 deg.. On the other hand, in January--the warmest month--the mean temperature was 66.4 deg.; the highest 76.5 deg.; and the lowest 57 deg.. The mean temperature of the whole year was at Wellington 58.2 deg., and the mean temperature of the different months was as follows: --
| |
Deg.
|
|
Deg.
|
| January
|
66.4
|
July
|
48.1
|
| February.
|
64.8
|
August
|
51.2
|
| March
|
62.5
|
September.
|
53.5
|
| April
|
63.5
|
October
|
59.2
|
| May
|
51.8
|
November.
|
60.5
|
| June
|
51.3
|
December.
|
64.7
|
From the foregoing details it will be understood why I do not consider the climate of New Zealand much suited to the vine; 58.2 deg., it is true, is a mean temperature sufficiently high for a country required for ripening the grape; but the mean of the three summer months, 65.2 deg., is too low, as a mean summer heat of at least 66.2 deg. is necessary for a wine country. The mean temperature of the winter months was not lower than 50.7 deg.: in fact, the climate is not sufficiently excessive; the winters are too moderately cold, the summers too moderately warm; nor must we forget that there were twenty rainy
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NEW ZEALAND.
days in the summer months of December and January, which is likewise prejudicial to the growth of the grape. These remarks are drawn from observations made at Wellington. But in that place, from its peculiar position, the temperature is lower than at other places, for instance, than at Nelson and New Plymouth. In the latter place I often found the thermometer as high as 86 deg. in the shade, nearly 10 deg. higher than it ever was at Wellington.
The Valley of the Hutt is exposed to the south winds, but Nelson is perfectly sheltered from them by the high mountains of the Middle Island, whilst it lies open to the balmy winds and warm rains from the north.
The latitude also must exercise a great influence, as I have already observed, so that many modifications must be made in the conclusions above given.
The climate of a country has undoubtedly very great influence on the physical and intellectual conditions of its inhabitants; we therefore naturally inquire - How does New Zealand agree with the human frame? Is the climate salubrious? To what diseases does it give rise? When might it be recommended? As the atmosphere, by its moderate warmth, its humidity, and constant current, is peculiarly favourable to the vegetative powers, as we see in the luxuriant growth of plants, so from the same causes it suits the human frame. In the families of the missionaries and settlers I observed no deviation from the original stock; the children grow well and strong,
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with fresh and rosy faces, and I am satisfied that in this respect New Zealand is in no way inferior to Great Britain. A humid and temperate atmosphere acts especially upon production, both as it regards growth of the body and the numerical strength of families. Nutrition and reproduction are in good order: in respect to the numerical strength of families, the climate seems to be particularly favourable to the increase of population; at least, all the Europeans have large families. We see the effect of this humid climate in certain diseases, to which Europeans, first arriving in this country, are often subjected. These are abscesses, or boils, and eruptive diseases, neither, however, of a malignant character, and both disappearing without medical aid. Amongst the natives carbuncles and diseases of the mucous membranes are common: here, however, other causes are acting, of which I shall speak more hereafter. The European, when once acclimatised, does not suffer from any of these causes. True inflammatory diseases are uncommon: the south-east wind of New Zealand is never as keen as our north-easter; but, in consequence of the moist climate, such diseases always assume the character of catarrh. I am not aware that any endemic diseases exist in New Zealand; influenza, however, and sometimes croup, appear epidemically. If care is not taken, rheumatisms also make their appearance; but it is certain that causes which, in England, would produce violent colds, and other injurious results, pass over in
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NEW ZEALAND.
New Zealand without any bad effect, even to those colonists who are in delicate health.
The purity of the atmosphere, resulting from the continual wind, imparts to the climate a vigour which gives elasticity to the physical powers and to the mind. Heat never debilitates, not even so much as a hot summer's day in England; and near the coasts especially there is always a cooling and refreshing breeze. The colonist who occupies himself with agriculture can work all day, and the mechanic will not feel any lassitude whether he works in or out of doors.
From all this I draw the conclusion, that as regards climate no country is better suited for a colony of the Anglo-Saxon race than New Zealand; and were this its only recommendation, it would still deserve our utmost attention, as the future seat of European civilization and institutions in the southern hemisphere, since in the other southern colonies--for instance, in that of New South Wales --Europeans undergo more or less alterations from the original stock.
Invalids rapidly recover in this climate, and there is no doubt that the presence of numerous thermal waters in the island, and the attractive scenery, will make New Zealand the resort of those who have been debilitated in India, and are in search of health.
I subjoin in a tabular form the results of the meteorological observations at Port Nicholson.
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METEOROLOGICAL TABLE
Meteorological Table taken from a Register kept at Wellington in New Zealand, from February, 1841, to January, 1842.
