98 HOW I KILLED THE TIGER. 



hail storms, missies of ice as large as full-sized cricket 

 balls, and rain falls not only in inches but in feet. 



On the nth of May, 1855, Nynee Tal I was 

 then in medical charge of the sanatorium was 

 visited by a storm of hail which, as regards the 

 size, weight, and number of the stones, has pro- 

 bably never been surpassed by any in the world. 

 A calm, cool morning ; a hot, enervating noon ; a 

 cold evening and night, with the wind blowing 

 bleakly from the north ; had characterised the few 

 preceding days. The barometer had stood high ; 

 and the wet bulb thermometer indicated an 

 extremely dry atmosphere. On the loth, at 4 p.m., 

 the dry bulb thermometer stood in an open shed 

 with thatched roof, at eighty degrees Fahr. ; on the 

 nth, at the same hour and place, at sixty-two 

 degrees Fahr. On the former date, the difference 

 between the dry and wet bulb thermometer 

 was fifteen degrees ; on the latter this difference 

 was reduced to four degrees. In the early part of 

 the day of the storm, clouds had been gathering 

 from the north and north-east ; in the after-part of 

 it others travelled up from south and south-west, 

 and appeared to coalesce with them. Towards 

 6 p.m. a small preliminary shower of rain fell ; 

 deep-toned thunder rolled and reverberated, and 

 vivid lightning streamed and blazed over the 

 devoted station. Innumerable bags of walnuts 



