§ 704. MONSOONS. 375 



give birth to the southwest monsoons in the China Sea, in the 

 North Indian Ocean, in the North Atlantic, and upon the west 

 coast of Central America: then the northwest monsoon disap- 

 pears from the East Indian Archipelago, and gives place to the 

 southeast trade- wind, which is known as the east monsoon, just as 

 the northwest wind, which prevails during the southern summer, 

 is called the west monsoon. This is the only northwest monsoon 

 which is found in the southern hemisphere. While in the north- 

 ern hemisphere the northeast trade-wind blows in the China Sea 

 and in the Indian Ocean, in the East Indian Archipelago the west 

 monsoon prevails; and when here the southeast trade blows as 

 the east monsoon, we find the southwest monsoon in the adjacent 

 seas of the northern hemisphere. Generally the westerly mon- 

 soons blow during the summer months of the hemisphere where- 

 in they are found. 



704. "In the Java Sea, during the month of February, the 

 Thunder and light- "^"^^^t mousoou blows stroug almost coutinually ; 

 °"^^- in March it blows intermittingly, and with hard 



squalls ; but in April the squalls become less frequent and less 

 severe. Now the changing commences ; all at once gusts begin 

 to spring up from the east : they are often followed by calms. 

 The clouds which crowd themselves upon the clear sky give 

 warning of the combat in the upper air which the currents there 

 are about to wage with each other. • The electricity, driven there- 

 by out of its natural channels, in which, unobserved, it has been 

 performing silently, but with the full consciousness of its power, 

 the mysterious task appointed to it, now displays itself with daz- 

 zling majesty ; its sheen and its voice fill with astonishment and 

 deep reverence the mind of the sailor — so susceptible, in the 

 presence of storm and darkness, to impressions that inspire feel- 

 ings both of dread and anxiety, which by pretended occupations 

 he strives in vain to conceal." Day and night we now have 

 thunder-storms. The clouds are in continual movement, and the 

 darkened air, laden with vapor, flies in all directions through the 

 skies. The combat which the clouds seem to court and to dread 

 appears to make them more thirsty than ever. They resort to 

 extraordinary means to refresh themselves ; in tunnel form, when 



* No phenomena in nature make a deeper impression upon the sailor than a dark 

 thunder-storm in a calm at sea. — Jansen. 



