THE CLIMATEThe climate of Tahiti, although tropical, is favorably influenced by the trade-winds and frequent showers. The breezes from ocean and land keep the heated atmosphere in motion, and the frequent rains throughout the year have a direct effect in lowering the temperature. The entire island from the shore to the highest mountain-peaks, is covered by forests and a vigorous vegetation. These retain the moisture and attract the pregnant clouds, securing, throughout the year, a sufficient rainfall to feed the many mountain streams and water the rich soil of the mountain-sides, valleys, ravines and lowlands along the coast. The temperature seldom exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and during the coldest months, March and April, it occasionally falls as low as 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The atmosphere is charged with humidity, and when this condition reaches the maximum degree, the heat is oppressive, more especially when there is no land or ocean breeze. If a hotel could be built at an elevation of three to four thousand feet above the level of the sea, the guests would find a climate which could not be surpassed in any other part of the world. A prolonged residence in Papeete or any other part of the island near the sea-level is debilitating for the whites. Those of the white inhabitants who can afford it, leave the island every three or five years and seek recuperation and a renewal of energy in a cooler climate, usually in California or Europe. Papeete, partially enclosed by mountains, and only a few feet above the level of the sea, and on the leeward side of the island, is said to be one of the warmest places in the island. The village of Papara gets the full benefit of the trade-winds and the land-breeze, and is one of the coolest spots in Tahiti. Tahiti's summer-time is our winter. I was fortunate in visiting the island during the latter part of January. It is the time when Nature makes a special effort here to produce the luxuriant vegetation after the drenching rains of December. It is the time when the evergreen trees cast off, here and there, a faded leaf, to be replaced by a new one from the vigorous unfolding buds. It is the season of flowers and the greatest variety of fruits. It may interest the reader to know that one day seven different kinds of fruits were served at the breakfast-table, a luxury out of reach of our millionaires at their homes in the North at that time of the year. For a winter vacation, the months of January and February offer the greatest inducements. Those who are in need of an ideal mental rest, and are fond of a long ocean voyage, and enjoy tropic scenery and the marvelous products of the fertile soil of the tropics, should not fail to visit Tahiti, the little paradise in the midst of the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
THE CLIMATEThe climate of Tahiti, although tropical, is favorably influenced by the trade-winds and frequent showers. The breezes from ocean and land keep the heated atmosphere in motion, and the frequent rains throughout the year have a direct effect in lowering the temperature. The entire island from the shore to the highest mountain-peaks, is covered by forests and a vigorous vegetation. These retain the moisture and attract the pregnant clouds, securing, throughout the year, a sufficient rainfall to feed the many mountain streams and water the rich soil of the mountain-sides, valleys, ravines and lowlands along the coast. The temperature seldom exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and during the coldest months, March and April, it occasionally falls as low as 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The atmosphere is charged with humidity, and when this condition reaches the maximum degree, the heat is oppressive, more especially when there is no land or ocean breeze. If a hotel could be built at an elevation of three to four thousand feet above the level of the sea, the guests would find a climate which could not be surpassed in any other part of the world. A prolonged residence in Papeete or any other part of the island near the sea-level is debilitating for the whites. Those of the white inhabitants who can afford it, leave the island every three or five years and seek recuperation and a renewal of energy in a cooler climate, usually in California or Europe. Papeete, partially enclosed by mountains, and only a few feet above the level of the sea, and on the leeward side of the island, is said to be one of the warmest places in the island. The village of Papara gets the full benefit of the trade-winds and the land-breeze, and is one of the coolest spots in Tahiti. Tahiti's summer-time is our winter. I was fortunate in visiting the island during the latter part of January. It is the time when Nature makes a special effort here to produce the luxuriant vegetation after the drenching rains of December. It is the time when the evergreen trees cast off, here and there, a faded leaf, to be replaced by a new one from the vigorous unfolding buds. It is the season of flowers and the greatest variety of fruits. It may interest the reader to know that one day seven different kinds of fruits were served at the breakfast-table, a luxury out of reach of our millionaires at their homes in the North at that time of the year. For a winter vacation, the months of January and February offer the greatest inducements. Those who are in need of an ideal mental rest, and are fond of a long ocean voyage, and enjoy tropic scenery and the marvelous products of the fertile soil of the tropics, should not fail to visit Tahiti, the little paradise in the midst of the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
The climate of Tahiti, although tropical, is favorably influenced by the trade-winds and frequent showers. The breezes from ocean and land keep the heated atmosphere in motion, and the frequent rains throughout the year have a direct effect in lowering the temperature. The entire island from the shore to the highest mountain-peaks, is covered by forests and a vigorous vegetation. These retain the moisture and attract the pregnant clouds, securing, throughout the year, a sufficient rainfall to feed the many mountain streams and water the rich soil of the mountain-sides, valleys, ravines and lowlands along the coast. The temperature seldom exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and during the coldest months, March and April, it occasionally falls as low as 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The atmosphere is charged with humidity, and when this condition reaches the maximum degree, the heat is oppressive, more especially when there is no land or ocean breeze. If a hotel could be built at an elevation of three to four thousand feet above the level of the sea, the guests would find a climate which could not be surpassed in any other part of the world. A prolonged residence in Papeete or any other part of the island near the sea-level is debilitating for the whites. Those of the white inhabitants who can afford it, leave the island every three or five years and seek recuperation and a renewal of energy in a cooler climate, usually in California or Europe. Papeete, partially enclosed by mountains, and only a few feet above the level of the sea, and on the leeward side of the island, is said to be one of the warmest places in the island. The village of Papara gets the full benefit of the trade-winds and the land-breeze, and is one of the coolest spots in Tahiti. Tahiti's summer-time is our winter. I was fortunate in visiting the island during the latter part of January. It is the time when Nature makes a special effort here to produce the luxuriant vegetation after the drenching rains of December. It is the time when the evergreen trees cast off, here and there, a faded leaf, to be replaced by a new one from the vigorous unfolding buds. It is the season of flowers and the greatest variety of fruits. It may interest the reader to know that one day seven different kinds of fruits were served at the breakfast-table, a luxury out of reach of our millionaires at their homes in the North at that time of the year. For a winter vacation, the months of January and February offer the greatest inducements. Those who are in need of an ideal mental rest, and are fond of a long ocean voyage, and enjoy tropic scenery and the marvelous products of the fertile soil of the tropics, should not fail to visit Tahiti, the little paradise in the midst of the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.