PART IV. 215
The seasonal and geographical distribution of the rainfall has a
considerable bearing on the subject of this paper. Kenya straddles
the equator and is well within the limits of the two tropics. Hence it
should comply with the general rule that in the tropics rainy seasons
follow a month or two after the sun’s passage overhead in its northerly
and southerly movements. Thus in Kenya we should have two wellmarked
 and well separated rainy seasons and this actually is the case
over a great part of the country. In the western districts, however,
between the Rift Valley and Mount Elgon in particular, the two seasons
are more or less merged and the rains are fairly evenly distributed over
the months from March to October, with no well-marked dry weather
period except perhaps in December and January.
The rainfall of Kenya varies in different parts from under 10 to
nearly 100 inches per annum and, as would be expected, the highest
areas are in general the wettest. There are, however, two notable
exceptions to the rule, one of which, the Coast belt, forms the northern
extremity of a long strip of coast land, stretching for many hundreds
of miles along the East African Coast and having a comparatively high
rainfall. The other exception consists of a number of small districts
at altitudes of between four and five thousand feet, which, owing to
their position «at the bases of lofty escarpments, enjoy a high rainfall
due to the cooling of the moisture-laden winds which strike the
mountains. The average annual rainfall of 83 inches at a station in
one of these districts is actually the highest recorded in the colony.
The temperature varies fairly consistently with the altitude
throughout the country from the tropical heat near the coast to the
arctic cold on the summit of Mount Kenya. The temperature of
the coast itself is tempered by its proximity to the ocean. Some of
the higher farming districts are subject to occasional frosts; in fact,
last year within 25 miles of Nairobi, many acres of native crops were
killed by frost. = Thick Scotch mists are also frequent at certain
seasons at such altitudes.
It will be readily appreciated that combinations of the different
degrees of rainfall, altitude and temperature which have been
described, complicated as they are by the existence of distinct one and
two-seasonal rainfall areas, present possibilities of very varied climatic
conditions in Kenya. It is not proposed to enumerate all these, but
It may be of interest to indicate the chief types to be found in the
principal farming areas which are situated at the higher elevations.
If the term ** uplands *’ is used to denote land within the altitudinal
range of 4,000 to 6,000 feet and the term ‘‘ highlands "’ as meaning
anything above 6,000 feet then there are,
East of the Rift Valley, fairly cool uplands with moderate rainfall
{25-40 inches), cool to cold highlands with mist and frost at times and
plentiful rainfall, both these types being combined with two-seasonal
rainfall
West of the Rift Valley, combined with one-seasonal rainfall,
there are warm uplands with good rainfall, warm uplands with high
rainfall, cool highlands with good rainfall, cool to cold highlands with
mist and frost at times and high rainfall.
It has been pointed out in the foregoing that the general climate
of a continent may be modified by local geographical features within
a country. This may be carried a step further. The conditions