THE RAINS 101 



stars that were glistening in their countless thousands 

 above us. 



Next day the long-expected rain at length descended. 

 The rain commenced at about four o'clock in the 

 afternoon and continued till past sunset. Being ac- 

 companied by a strong wind, it caused a much greater 

 fall in the temperature than had that former first 

 shower. It became so cold in the evening, that I not 

 only stopped the punkah, but also put on some of my 

 warm winter clothes. 



This fall of rain was succeeded by many others. For 

 several days the sky remained thickly overcast with 

 clouds, and nearly every day more or less rain de- 

 scended. But these latter showers, falling in a still 

 atmosphere, had hardly any cooling influence. The 

 temperature ere long became very nearly as high as 

 it had been before the rains commenced ; owing to the 

 excessive dampness, it was even more oppressive. 



Insects of all sorts now again appeared in profusion. 

 They were not, however, insects called to life by the 

 rain, but insects that had completed their various 

 transformations, and were now issuing forth in their 

 finally developed forms. Of the insects which thus 

 issued none came forth so suddenly and in such vast 

 multitudes as the white ants. Their coming forth is 

 a sight most curious. The other afternoon I had the 

 gratification of witnessing it. 



I was walking along the path that leads from the 

 terrace ; on the side of this path, close by the mud wall 

 that forms the boundary of the compound, there ex- 

 tends a line of small, thorny trees. They are a species 



