312 . MR. H. H. W. PEARSON ON THE 
Of these stations, Bandarawela has the smallest rainfall, and 
Badulla the fewest rainy days during the S. W. monsoon. But in 
neither case can the rain'all be taken as typical of that of the Uva 
patanas ; for Bandarawela is less than 5 miles from the southern 
boundary of the plateau, and the Badulla rainfall is influenced 
by the proximity of Namunukuli. Unfortunately, however, no 
data exist for any station more centrally situated, and whose 
climate is therefore typical for the greater part of the Uva 
patana region; but, from the appearance of the country and the 
experience of those who know it, we shall be justified in con- 
cluding that the precipitation at such a station as Attampitiya 
or Wilson's Bungalow, during the S. W. monsoon, is less than at 
Bandarawela or Badulla. 
With this qualifieation, let us consider the Badulla statistics. 
From these it appears that 25:09 inches of rain fall in 30 days 
during the S.W. monsoon, i. e., from the beginning of April to 
the end of September. February and March are dry months all 
over the Island; and we may therefore consider that at Badulla 
there are only 30 rainy days in eight months, viz. from the 
beginning of February to the end of September, and in these 
30 days the rainfall is 25 inches. This rainfall, which is heavy 
while it lasts, falls upon an undulating country whose surface- 
drainage is good, and upon a surface naturally hard and pene- 
trable only with difficulty ; and the 30 rainy days are irregularly 
distributed over 6 months, during which the country is parched 
up under a tropical sun and a usually unclouded sky. The Uva 
patana-distriet is therefore a region which has a prolonged, 
though not severe, dry season during the prevalence of the S.W. 
monsoon. 
The North-east monsoon, from which the greater part of the 
Island, including the eastern slopes of the mountains, receives the 
larger proportion of its rainfall, sets in a few days after the S.W. 
wind has eeased, usually about the middle of October. The 
period of this monsoon is a short one, as it coases about the 
middle of January; the interval between this and the commence- 
ment of the S.W. monsoon—the latter half of January, February, 
and March—is a dry period during which hardly any rain falls in 
any part of the Island. 
The rains during this monsoon are very violent in the Uva 
district, aud as the water drains away it carries with it all the 
