MONSOONS THEIR VALUE. 97 



swept up and mingled with the waters above ; 

 while those below heave up their billows, and rage 

 and roar in unison with the tempest. On the land 

 everything seems about to be uprooted and hurled 

 to destruction. The tall straight cocoa-nut trees 

 are bent over till they almost lie along the ground ; 

 the sand and dry earth are whirled up in eddying 

 clouds, and everything movable is torn up and 

 swept away. 



To add to the dire uproar, thunder now peals 

 from the skies in loud, continuous roars, and in 

 sharp angry crashes, while lightning plays about in 

 broad sheets all over the sky, the one following so 

 close 011 the other as to give the impression of 

 perpetual flashes and an unintermitting roar ; the 

 whole scene presenting an aspect so awful, that 

 sinful man might well suppose the season of the 

 Earth's probation had passed away, and that the 

 Almighty were about to hurl complete destruction 

 upon his offending creatures. 



But far other intentions are in the breast of Him 

 who rides upon the storm. His object is to restore, 

 not to destroy to gladden, not to terrify. This 

 tempestuous weather lasts for some days, but at 

 the end of that time the change that comes over 

 the face of nature seems little short of miraculous. 

 In the words of Mr. Elphinstone, who describes 

 from personal observation " The whole earth is 

 covered with a sudden but luxuriant verdure, the 

 rivers are full and tranquil, the air is pure and 



(451) 7 



