B. TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS AND METEOROLOGY. 103 



daily notes of the appearance of the clouds and sky, and 

 that there is no place in India where the magnificent phe- 

 nomena which precede the bursting of the monsoon can be 

 seen and studied with more ease. The peak in question is 

 one conspicuous for its height and its isolation. As seen 

 from Trevaudrum, it rises in the form of a sharp-pointed 

 cone. On the west it is a precipitous wall for nearly 

 two thousand feet, and on the east it descends at an an- 

 gle of about 60 with the horizon. Standing on its sum- 

 mit, for a month or more before the final crash of the 

 tempest, the whole operations of the great atmospheric 

 laboratory are developed at one's feet, while the summit 

 of the mountain itself is rarely visited by the storms which 

 rage over its western flanks. On the occasion of his first 

 ascent, Mr. Broun states that, arriving at the summit, he 

 saw to the west Trevandrum lying on the low lands, the in- 

 termediate plains spotted with clouds, shadows, and bright 

 sunshine. A thick stratum of clouds, about on his own 

 level, was, however, coming rapidly toward him, and in five 

 minutes after dashed like a hurricane on the cliflT below, 

 burying the summit in a dull, gray light and a wet mist. 

 Within the next two days they had twelve inches of rain, 

 and it was evident that the monsoon had set in. On a sub- 

 sequent visit, made during the dry season, he had ample oc- 

 casion to study the gradual approach of the monsoon, and 

 in general states that in the mornings chains of finely formed 

 cumuli seemed to rest over the eastern horizon of Malabar 

 and Coromandel. These clouds were irregularly distributed 

 over the countrj'-, their shadows projected vertically at noon- 

 time, spotting and checking the plains between the sea and 

 the mountain. Early in the morning the vapors began to 

 rise near the western precipices, the clouds accumulated and 

 sought to escape by the lowest passes into the eastern val- 

 leys, but were opposed by a repulsive influence, although no 

 breath of air was felt. At last, after noon, in mighty masses 

 it ascended, crowned with cirrus cloud, which spread east- 

 ward like an immense parasol overhead. Then the light- 

 ning began to play from cloud to cloud, followed by thun- 

 der, and drenching rain in the forests below. After one or 

 more hours, according to the distance from the monsoon, 

 the clouds left the mountains, retreated westward, and then 



