county is much subject to storms, which fetching a large course in the open sea, do from thence violently assault the dwellers at land, and leave them uncovered houses, pared hedges and dwarf trees, as witnesses of their force and fury." Dr. Borlase gives the same account of the frequency and violence of the storms and squalls in Cornwall, and my own experience leads me to the same conclusion. Indeed, I think the climate of the west of Cornwall is fully as remarkable for its great variability in respect of wind and rain, as it is for the singular unchangeableness of its temperature. The following statements will shew the relative frequency of winds from different quarters; they are the mean results of eleven years:─
No. of Days. | ||
North Winds, | 36 | |
South Winds, | 45 | |
East Winds, | 37 | |
West Winds, | 39 | |
Winds from the intermediate points of | N. and E. | 38 |
S. and E. | 36 | |
N. and W. | 76 | |
S. and W. | 58 |
It results from this table, that winds from all the southern points are, to those from all the northern, in the proportion of three to two; and that those from all the western points bear a nearly similar proportion to those from the eastern.
In regard of the relative prevalence of the different winds in the different seasons, it appears that easterly winds prevail nearly in an equal degree in summer and autumn; somewhat more in winter, and most of all in spring. Of course the westerly winds are