[Sidenote: Barometer and thermometer.]
The barometer rose and fell gradually between 29. 78. and 29. 98. The thermometer was never above 82º, and never, even at night, under 72º For further details respecting the winds and weather, see the Meteorological Journal.
[Illustration: Chart of GREAT LOO CHOO Island
Surveyed in H.M. Sloop LYRA by Captain Basil Hall
1816]
NOTICE TO ACCOMPANY THE GENERAL CHART OF THE GREAT LOO-CHOO ISLAND, AND THE CHARTS OF NAPAKIANG, AND PORT MELVILLE.
[Sidenote: Different names of this island.]
This island is called Loo-choo, and sometimes Doo-choo, by the natives. In our maps it is variously written, but mostly Lekayo: the Chinese know it by the name of Low-kow. The spelling used by Mr. Horsburgh in his directions, Lieou-kieou, or Lieu-chew.
[Sidenote: Geographical limits and general aspect.]
The island lies between 26º 4-3/4' and 26º 52-1/2', north, and between 127º 34' and 128º 18' east, being very nearly sixty miles long in a north-east direction, and preserving a tolerably uniform breadth of about ten or twelve miles. The north end is high and bold, with wood on the top of the hills. The north-east coast is also abrupt, but quite barren. The south-east side is low, with very little appearance of cultivation. The south, south-west, and western faces, particularly the two former, are of moderate height, and present a scene of great fertility and high cultivation: it is to this quarter that the mass of population have resorted. The north-west side is generally rugged and bare.