1884.] Himalaya Snoivfall with Drought in India. 15 



Lahore and south of the salt range, were absolutely rainless. In 

 Rajputana there was no rain of any importance from the 18th July to 

 the 29th August, and the absolutely rainless interval was from the 

 6th to the 17th August. In the North- Western Provinces all the 

 western districts were rainless from the 26th July to the 20th August ; 

 and in Oudh and the eastern districts, except in Mirzapnr, there were 

 only rare and insignificant showers. Still further east, in Behar, 

 showers were somewhat more frequent, but still only occasional, and 

 for the most part light. In Gujarat, Khandish, and Berar, the drought 

 was equally great and prolonged ; lasting from the 18th July to the 

 26th August, and at some stations up to the 31st. And even in 

 Hyderabad and the Deccan there was no general rain, and but few 

 heavy showers locally, for the space of an entire month, from the 

 20th July. In the Konkan light showers fell daily up to the 7th 

 August ; but even here and on the Ghats the rainfall was very light, 

 and the interval from the 8th to the 16th August was almost rainless. 



The extent of the drought was therefore very great, including the 

 whole of Western and North- Western and the greater part of Central 

 India. It began earlier and ended later in the Punjab and Northern 

 Bajputana than further to the south and east, and was most severe 

 during eight or ten days in the middle of August. It affected nearly 

 the whole of the country in which the land winds prevail most 

 regularly and persistently during the spring months ; and the winds 

 during the drought were identical in character and direction with 

 those which are normal in the spring season. 



During the period here dealt with, the barometric features, though 

 subject to considerable variation, were less anomalous than might 

 perhaps have been anticipated. In April there had been, on the 

 whole, a slight excess of pressure above the average on the Punjab 

 Himalaya, about an average pressure on the plains of the greater part 

 of the province, and a slight deficiency on the Gangetic plains and the 

 adjacent hills, from the Jamna eastwards, greater on the plains than 

 on the hills. In May, save in the north of the Bombay Presidency 

 during the first week, and generally on the last three or four days, 

 the pressure was below the average throughout Northern India, 

 the deficiency averaging, on the mean of the whole month, "038" 

 on the North- Western Himalaya, "041" on the Punjab plains, 

 and '056" on the Gangetic plain down to Benares. To the 

 south of the Ganges, in Central India, Rajputana, and the Central 

 Provinces, it was less, averaging from "020" to '030". With the 

 snowfall at the end of May the pressure rose greatly above the 

 average both on the hills and plains, and so remained nearly a week. 

 About the 4th June it fell again, and remained unduly low over the 

 whole of Northern India till after the middle of the month. Between 

 the 18th and 20th, that is, a few days after the rains had set in 



