is performed by certain women of the tribe whose peculiar office it is to attend to these rites.
In the year 1828, from the commencement of January to the middle of August, the Adventure (the ship I commanded) was at anchor at Port Famine, in the Strait of Magalhaens, in latitude 53° 38¼′ south, and longitude 70° 54′ west of Greenwich; and during the whole of that time a careful meteorological journal was kept. The temperature was registered from a very good thermometer of Fahrenheit's scale, suspended within a copper cylindrical case of nine inches diameter, and perforated above and below with holes, to admit a free current of air. The cylinder was fixed to the roof of a shed, thatched with dried leaves to shelter it from the sun, while the sides were open. The barometer (a mountain barometer made by Newman, with an iron cylinder) was hung up in the observatory, five feet above the high-water mark, and both instruments were examined carefully and regularly at the following hours, namely: six and nine o'clock in the morning, at noon, and at three and six o'clock in the evening. The state of the atmosphere was observed daily, by Daniel's hygrometer, at three o'clock in the afternoon. The maximum and minimum temperatures were also observed twice in twenty-four hours, from a Six's thermometer, namely: at nine o'clock in the morning, and at nine in the evening. From this journal the following abstract has been drawn up:—
SUMMARY OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.
———
Table I.
| Mean height of the Barometer, corrected for Neutl. Pt. and Capilly. and reducedto the temperature of 32°. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour | AUTUMNAL PERIOD. | BRUMAL PERIOD. | 12 Days of August. | MEANS. | ||||||
| Feb. | March. | April. | May. | June. | July. | Autumn. | Brumal. | Au.&Br. | ||
| inches | inches | inches | inches | inches | inches | inches | inches | inches | inches | |
| VI. | 29.404 | 29.631 | 29.569 | +29.322 | +29.279 | 29.581 | 29.230 | 29.531 | +29.394 | 29.463 |
| IX. | +.415 | +.655 | +.581 | .311 | .277 | .584 | .257 | +.550 | .391 | +.470 |
| XII. | .405 | -.641 | .574 | .292 | .272 | .576 | .308 | .540 | .380 | .460 |
| III. | -.399 | .647 | -.555 | -.285 | -.271 | -.542 | .318 | -.534 | -.366 | -.450 |
| VI. | .404 | .657 | .579 | .308 | .294 | .571 | .318 | .540 | .391 | .465 |
| Means | 29.405 | 29.646 | 29.572 | 29.304 | 29.279 | 29.571 | 29.286 | 29.539 | 29.384 | 29.462 |
Table II.
| Thermometer—Fahrenheit. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour | AUTUMNAL PERIOD. | BRUMAL PERIOD. | 12 Days of August. | MEANS. | ||||||
| Feb. | March. | April. | May. | June. | July. | Autumn. | Brumal. | Au.&Br. | ||
| ° | ° | ° | ° | ° | ° | ° | ° | ° | ° | |
| VI. | 44.30 | 44.20 | 35.82 | 34.74 | 30.67 | 30.53 | 33.46 | 41.44 | 31.98 | 36.71 |
| IX. | 51.38 | 49.87 | 40.61 | 36.36 | 31.83 | 31.50 | 35.11 | 47.29 | 33.23 | 40.26 |
| XII. | 54.23 | 52.53 | 45.42 | 40.68 | 36.02 | 35.93 | 37.92 | 50.73 | 37.54 | 44.13 |
| III. | 54.44 | 52.39 | 44.88 | 39.62 | 34.36 | 34.59 | 36.24 | 50.57 | 36.19 | 43.38 |
| VI. | 51.16 | 47.84 | 39.83 | 35.97 | 31.98 | 32.58 | 33.54 | 46.13 | 33.51 | 39.82 |
| Means | 51.10 | 49.37 | 41.22 | 35.47 | 32.97 | 33.03 | 33.25 | 47.23 | 34.49 | 40.86 |