54 Floods in India in 1849. 



the barometer low. On the 26th July one of the most furious storms 

 of rain and thunder ever known occurred over the south of England. 

 The season along the north-west frontier, from this time forward, 

 presented the most anomalous results. On the 3d of August the 

 rain fell with the utmost violence all along the Malabar coast, and 

 another period of unusual and general disturbance now made its ap- 

 pearance, just before the final drawing off of the rains ; for at Bom- 

 bay on the 4th, just as the monsoon had reached its full, the barome- 

 ter suddenly rose by nearly a quarter of an inch in only six hours' 

 time, the weather became showery and open, this state of matters 

 extending at least 100 miles into the interior. On the 3d a severe 

 storm occurred off the mouth of the Ganges, in which a large vessel 

 belonging to the king of Burmah was lost. The first full moon, and 

 the weather all over the country changed. On the 17th of August 

 there seems to have a general fall of rain all over the country, though 

 more moderate in amount than many of those which had previously 

 occurred. 



On the 27th July rain began to fall at Simla, and so continued 

 almost without cessation up to the 7th August. On the 27th heavy 

 rain fell at Wurzeerabad and Lahore, and a very large fall seems to 

 have occurred. At Delhi, and so on to Benares, after the first 

 downpour the rains became light and irregular. At Almorah during 

 the first four days of August a very heavy fall occurred. At Alla- 

 habad scarcely a shower fell betwixt the 24tli June and 4th August, 

 when, on the 6th, a tremendous downpour occurred, and so continued 

 for some days. Up to the middle of August scarcely a drop had 

 fallen since the end of June and commencement of July, and the 

 crops were completely burnt up ; the river Burma was nearly dry, 

 and at Jounpore the cultivators were endeavouring to keep their 

 cattle alive with sugar-cane. While abundance of water was making 

 its appearance on every side, at Ferozepore and all along the south- 

 eastern bank of the Sutlej, a few casual showers were all that had 

 occurred, the fear of famine beginning to become universal. Around 

 Lahore and Mooltan, and so by the banks of the rivers, the country 

 was completely inundated, while at Ferozepore the drought con- 

 tinued fierce and unmitigated. At Kurrachee, in Lower Scinde, 

 where rain rarely appears, a heavy shower fell, and some thunder 

 occurred on the 4th of August and again on the 1 6th August, the 

 whole month of July having been thick and cloudy, with a few drops 

 of fall every now and then. 



Even with the limited information we possess, a multitude of 

 singular facts are here disclosed to us, one of the most striking of 

 which is the diversity in the state of the air in matter of humidity 

 when the rains were at their wildest. Taking the crisis of the 22d 

 June as an example, we find the wet and dry-bulb thermometers to 

 have stood as follows at their maxima and minima at the following 

 places : — - 



