8 [ No.97 GEOGRAPHY : SOMALILAND penetrate to this region, and there is dry weather from mid -October to mid-March, especially in the last three months. The south -west monsoon begins in April and lasts until the end of September. It blows with some strength throughout this period in the north part of the zone, while farther to the south it is hardly felt except in July and August, when it blows very strongly. Throughout the plateau zone there are thunderstorms in March and April, and occa sionally in May and June. In the northern part the rains begin in July, and gradually increase in strength , becoming heaviest in September ; farther to the south there are heavy rains in August only. The rain fall in the north is said to vary from 10 to 20 inches ( 254–508 mm. ) a year, and in the south to be somewhat less. All through the year the maximum and minimum shade temperatures are respectively about 10° F. (6° C. ) and 20° or 30° F. ( 11 ° C. or 17° C. ) less than in the coast region, except in the extreme south, where they are about the same.

(4) SANITARY CONDITIONS In the interior all seasons are equally healthy, and the climate is dry. The people are nomads, living entirely in the open air, eating comparatively little food , and abstaining entirely from alcohol. The struggle for life is so hard , however, that only the fittest survive.

Cholera and dysentery, as well as malaria, are un known, although in damp climates the Somali have been found to be very subject to malaria. On the other hand, owing to the scarcity of food, the nomad Somali show little power of resistance to disease and often fall victims to phthisis and pneumonia, of which many children die. Ophthalmia, skin diseases, and ulcers are common. African relapsing fever has been .