292 AROUND THE WORLD VIA INDIA. 



For once I was glad when the visit was at an end 

 and the courteous major took me to his private apart- 

 ments, where a most luxurious breakfast was served 

 and where my torturing thirst was quenched with ice 

 and claret. As soon as we arrived in the room, the ma- 

 jor suggested that I should make myself more comfort- 

 able by removing the coat. I did so most willingly 

 and then discovered to what extent the clothing had 

 become saturated by the profuse sweating. Judged 

 by the clothing, and found near the Ganges, the sus- 

 picion would have been well founded that I had been 

 rescued a few moments ago from drowning in the sacred 

 river. Without rain and sweating the clothing would 

 become moist from the excessive humidity of the atmos- 

 phere. What discomfort and annoyance this creates. 

 Try under such circumstances to fetch in a hurry from 

 the wet trousers pocket with a sweating hand a coin 

 for a tip and you will find that the pocket becomes a 

 veritable trap for the hand, which is with difficulty 

 extricated without everting the pocket and scattering 

 the coins. 



It seemed to me strange that the temperature in- 

 creased as I traveled north, but in leaving the coast the 

 humidity gradually diminished, and in the interior the 

 air was comparatively dry. The thermometer I car- 

 ried with me registered 132 P. ; on several occasions the 

 mercury reached the maximum limit of the instrument 

 in the sun and would undoubtedly have gone higher had 

 there been additional space. This high temperature was 

 registered at Agra, Delhi and Jaipur. The night and 

 shade temperature on the whole trip from Calcutta to 

 Bombay ranged between 92 to 105 F. The Bombay 

 weather was very much like that of Calcutta, rain and 

 humidity, but the temperature was a little lower and 

 occasional breezes diminished the sweating and relieved 

 the intense sense of heat. 



All through India the absence of a breeze made the 

 heat distressing. Some days about 4 o'clock in the 



