62 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Part I. 



in the forenoon ; and the evenings which follow are em- 

 belhshed by sunsets of the most gorgeous splendour, 

 lighting the fragments of clouds that survive the recent 

 storm. 



June. — The extreme heat of the previous month 

 Wind s.w. becomes modified in June : the winds 



Temperature, 24 hours: COntUlUC Steadilv tO bloW frOm the 

 Mean greatest .85-8° , , "^ 



Mean least . . 74-4° soutli-wcst, auci ircquent showcrs, ac- 

 Rain (inches) . . 68 compaiiied by hghtning and thunder, 

 serve still further to diffuse coohiess throughout the 

 atmosphere and verdure over the earth. 



So instantaneous is the response of Nature to the 

 influence of returning moisture, that, in a single day, 

 and almost between sunset and daAvn, the green hue of 

 reviving vegetation begins to tint the saturated ground. 

 In ponds, from which but a week before the wind blew 

 clouds of sandy dust, the peasantry are now to be seen 

 catchino; the re-animated fish ; and tank-shells and 

 water-beetles revive and wander over the submerged 

 sedges. The electricity of the air stimulates the vege- 

 tation of the trees ; and scarce a week will elapse till 

 the plants are covered with the larvaa of butterflies, the 

 forest murmuring with the hum of insects, and the air 

 harmonious with the voice of birds. 



The extent to which the temperatm^e is reduced, after 

 the first burst of the monsoon, is not to be appre- 

 ciated by the indications of the thermometer alone, but 

 is rendered still more sensible by the altered density of 

 the ah", the drier state of which is favoui'able to eva- 

 poration, whilst the mcrease of its movement bring- 

 ing it more rapidly in contact with the human body, 

 heat is more readily carried off, and the coolness of 

 the surface proportionally increased. It occasionally 

 happens durmg the month of June that the westerly 

 wind acquires considerable strength, sometimes amount- 

 ing to a moderate gale. The fishermen, at this period, 

 seldom put to sea: their canoes are drawn far up in 

 lines upon the shore, and vessels riding in the roads of 



