Wind 63 



" The south monsoon wind blows steadily at these altitudes (7500 

 10,000 ft.) the whole year, but as a rule it decreases in force at night 

 or entirely drops. It frequently shifts from its normal direction to 

 east-south-east, east and east-north-east and in the course of the day 

 it increases spasmodically in intensity. During the rain-monsoon it is 

 replaced by a north-west wind which blows at this season in the valleys, 

 and this occurs the more rarely the higher the peak on which the obser- 

 vations are made. On mountains of 10,000 ft. and higher I have never 

 noticed a west wind, but at a height of 1)000 9500 ft. this was occasion- 

 ally observed. The north-west wind then ascends the slopes on the 

 opposite side of the conical mountain, covering everything with a dense 

 cloud, and blows over the peak. But on these higher peaks it rarely 

 retains the ascendancy which it has wrested from the east monsoon for 

 more than half a day or at most a whole day. . .then the latter reasserts 

 itself and an interval of several weeks or months elapses before the west 

 wind succeeds in rising to so high a level." As my own excursions on 

 the volcanic mountains of Java were made at the time of the west 

 monsoon, November to March, I was able to convince myself of the 

 correctness of Junghulm's conclusions. The south-east wind prevailed 

 everywhere (Gedeh mountains, Dieng and Tengger mountains in Java, 

 Merapi and Singalang), though I once had an opportunity of observing 

 on the old crater of Aloen-Aloen of the Gedeh mountains a strong 

 west monsoon wind accompanied by mist and cloud. Verbeek also 

 states (Krakatcm, n. Teil, p. 149) that in Java the wind in the upper 

 currents of the atmosphere blows constantly from the east (S.E., E. 

 and more rarely N.E.) and this is the case when either an east or west 

 wind is blowing in the lower strata of the air. He estimates the 

 lowest limit of this high wind at 2000 metres [6600 ft.]. He is also of 

 opinion that its velocity increases with the height and, on the data 

 furnished by the distances to which ashes were carried during the 

 Krakatau eruption, he estimates the velocity at an altitude of 50 

 kilometres [31 miles] at 121 kilometres [75% miles] per hour. In 

 other regions also, as, for example, in the Swiss Alps, Vogler 1 has 

 demonstrated the possibility of wind-transport over long distances. 



From the results of numerous calculations as to the transport 

 of leaves, etc., on glaciers and snow-fields in relation to the deter- 

 mination of the nearest normal station of the plants, Vogler arrives 

 at the conclusion that during storms seeds may be carried in the 

 Alps to a distance of 20 kilometres [12 J miles]. As evidence of the 

 probability of transport to a still greater distance, even in the case of 

 fairly large seeds and fruits, he quotes the remarkable hail of salt on 



1 Vogler, P. " Uber die Verbreituugsruittel der schweizerischen Alpenpflanzen." 

 Flora, Bd. 89, 1901. 



