l6o en philosophical gcogt'aphy. Feb. (. 



a direction opposite to that it would have afsumed, if 

 no land had been placed there. 3ut as the high moun- 

 tains in Africa continue extremely cold during all sea- 

 sons of the year, the low countries of India, to the 

 eastward of it, become, in summer, so much hotter 

 than Africa, at that season, that the air is naturally 

 drawn from thence to the eastward. Thus it is, that 

 the trade wind, in the Indian ocean, from April till 

 October, (that is, during the summer months,) blows 

 in a north-east direction, which is precisely the reverse 

 of that of the general trade wind, in open seas, in the 

 same latitude. But when the sun leaves the northern 

 hemisphere, and retreats towards the tropic of Capri- 

 corn, these northern countries are allowed to cool, 

 and the general trade wind is then suffered to resume 

 its natural direction. 



Such are the obvious causes of that periodical fhift- 

 ing wind in the Indian seas, which has been denomi- 

 nated the monsoon. To account for the small varia- 

 tions in its direction, which are observed in the dif- 

 ferent tracts of those seas, will be an easy exercise to 

 any one who has made himself master of the rationale 

 of the phenomena here explained. At present, it 

 woifldlead to too great length to take notice of them.' 



By inspecting the map, the attentive reader will 

 obferve, that no monfoon takes place to the fouth-ward 

 of the line, excepting in that part of the ocean adjoin- 

 ing to tlie large and newly explored illand, called Neiu 

 Holland -y an ifland fo much exceeding, in fize, any 

 *ther ifland on the globe, as to deserve, in a certain 

 sense, the name of a continent. In that part of the 

 globe, the same causes concur to produce a monsoon 



