Q6 PHENOMENAL RAINFALLS. 



to destroy, with the above result. Irremediable harm 

 has been done to some countries in this way. 



We shall endeavour to give some idea of the enorm- 

 ous quantity of water which sometimes falls in these 

 torrential rains, within a very brief space of time. 



In Calcutta, for instance, on May loth 1835, 16 

 inches of rain fell in twelve hours * and on the 

 authority of Mr. Yule, it is stated that on the Khasia 

 Hills, in the month of August 1841, 264 inches, or 

 twenty-two feet of rain fell, and that during five suc- 

 cessive days of that time 30 inches fell in every 

 twenty-four hours ;f in other words as much rain fell 

 on each of those days, as falls in most parts of great 

 Britain in a year. 



Sir James Martin, writing on this subject, says that, 

 "It is in the Burmese territory that we find the 

 most surprising examples of great falls of rain those 

 who served at Rangoon, and in Upper Ava, will 

 never forget the rainy season in those countries," 

 and quoting from an article in the Calcutta Review, 

 describing the Khasia Hills, he cites the case of the 

 station of Chirrah-Poonjee, where according to Professor 

 Oldham the rainfall of 1851 amounted to 592 inches, 

 or within 8 inches of a depth of fifty feet of water. 

 It would be easy to quote further examples of great 

 rainfalls, but these extracts from the standard work 

 of this well-known Indian medical authority are, w r e 

 think, sufficient on this point. 



But it is sometimes at great distances beyond the 



* The Influence of Tropical Climates in Producing Disease, by Sir 

 James R. Martin, 2nd. edit., 1861, p. 32. 

 | Ibid., p. 32. 

 Ibid., p. 32. 



