INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, 131 



and scarcely arable, and the inhabitants are in general so de- 

 pendent on the periodical rains for their crop?, that any de- 

 ficiency in the rain-fall is followed by a bad harvest. 



Throughout the northern Carnatic, the rain-fall during the 

 south- west monsoon is trifling in amount; and as the sun's 

 action is not mitigated by a cloudy sky during the hottest 

 period of the year, as is the case in Mysore, the temperature 

 from March till November is extremely high. In the middle 

 of October or the beginning of November the north-east 

 monsoon sets in, and with it a more or less abundant rain- 

 fall. In the end of December the rains cease, from the gra- 

 dual change in the direction of the wind, which makes it less 

 directly a sea-breeze than in the earlier part of the winter 

 season. The mean temperature of Madras is 82°, and the 

 rain-full does not exceed 15 inches. 



In the southern Carnatic, the district of Salem, between the 

 rivers Penar and Cavery, which is considerably more elevated 

 than the rest of the province, may be considered a prolonga- 

 tion of the most elevated part of the central platform of My- 

 sore. The table-land of Mysore dips abruptly into the plain 

 of Salem, which has an elevation of about 1 100 feet above the 

 sea, and contains several detached masses of hills scattered 

 over it, all rising to very considerable elevations. Of these, 

 the most lofty are the Shiw r ari hills, which rise a few miles 

 north-east of the town of Salem, in a range of densely wooded 

 flat-topped hills. The mean height of the table-land on their 

 summits is about 4600 feet, but the highest peak rises to 5260 

 feet. The Salem district, from its position opposite the Coim- 

 bator gap, and from the influence of the considerable masses 

 of high land just mentioned, is rather more rainy than the 

 northern Carnatic. The south-west monsoon sets in early 

 in June, and short but heavy and frequent showers continue 

 till September. Towards the end of October, the north-east 

 monsoon brings a return of showery weather, with a cloudy 

 sky. This continues till the middle of December, when the 

 rains cease in consequence of the gradual change of the direc- 

 tion of the wind from north-east to due north. 



