ionally a
fairly quiet day would occur. High winds were experienced on ten days,
the greatest hourly average for any twenty-four hours being thirty-two
miles, but no day averaged less than ten miles. Precipitation occurred
on twenty-one days, mostly in the form of snow and soft hail. The mean
temperature was 37.7 degrees, with extremes of 43.3 degrees and 26
degrees F. The average percentage of cloud was 78; somewhat less than
usual and due to the greater frequency of south-west winds, which almost
always bring a broken sky.

Now that our life was one of smooth routine I devoted a good deal of
time to reducing the meteorological observations. Hourly pressure and
temperature readings as well as descriptive remarks, averages and other
details required to be summarized, and this occupied a considerable
amount of time, so I made a practice of spending a couple of hours
each day on the work, whenever possible, hoping thereby to pick up the
"leeway." I did not take too kindly to inactive writing in the Shack,
but the weather conditions were such that I was glad to stay indoors,
though that meant enduring the inevitable cold feet. The floor of the
Shack was never warm, and of course there were no carpets.

Mac developed a great animosity against the rats and thoroughly enjoyed
rooting them out on all occasions. The only explanation of their
presence on the island is that they had arrived in the ships which were
wrecked along the coasts. They got into the Shack several times, and we
simply brought in Mac and shifted things about till she caught them.

Rough weather occurred during the first week of August, and with
occasional temporary weakenings a gale blew throughout, reaching fifty
miles an hour at different times. Snow, hail and sleet fell every day,
and on the 3rd the temperature was below freezing-point all day. The
Shack, which always shook a little in exceptionally heavy gales, now
vibrated a good deal in a forty-mile wind, no doubt feeling the effects
of the beating it had undergone.

Blake found a cave running through North Head and went round, on the
5th, to examine it. He proved it to be about sixty yards from opening to
opening, and to widen out very much inside; the roof being about fifteen
feet above the floor.

Hamilton and Sandell went along the coast on the 6th and brought home a
dozen Maori hens for the pot. Hamilton secured some spiders, parasites
on birds and many beetles under the moss and stones on t