96 EAST INDIA. 



States, the Satpura range, the greater part of the Central 

 Provmces, the table land of Chutia Nagpur, Orissa and 

 western Bengal. In this broad belt the rainfall is higher 

 than to the south or north-west of it, chiefly because numerous 

 storms, generated near the coast of Bengal, travel along it 

 from east to west, their passage being accompanied by heavy 

 rain. 



The country which lies to the north-west of this belt is, 

 again, under the effect of the western branch of the monsoon; 

 part of this passes through Gujarat, Eajputana, Cutch and 

 Sind towards the Punjab, where it drops varying quantities 

 of rain according to the configuration of the country. On the 

 whole, however, the air current from the west and north- 

 west becomes more and more dry on proceeding north, 

 as it no longer comes from the ocean, but successively from 

 Arabia, Persia, Baluchistan and Afghanistan ; hence, the 

 rainfall decreases rapidly to the north of Bombay. 



As long as the sea winds are sufficiently strong to keep in 

 check and even force back the north-westerly winds during 

 summer, all is well ; but every now and then the reverse is 

 the case, that is to say, the north-west wind forces back the 

 sea winds and proceeds further and further east and south- 

 east into the United Provinces, Behar and even Bengal and 

 Orissa, or it forces its way down into the Peninsula. If it 

 keeps its sway over the sea winds for some period, a failure 

 of the monsoon rains is the consequence, an event which is 

 followed b}" scarcity or famine. It is believed tliat the strength 

 of this dry air current from the north-west is intimately con- 

 nected with the snowfall on the Himalayan ranges; when that 

 fall is heavy the north-west winds are strong and vice versa. 

 Further observations seem, however, necessary to establish 

 the absolute correctness of this view. 



The copious watering of the surface of the land, in its turn, 

 reduces the temperature, so that in some parts of the country 

 the rainy season is actually the coolest time of the year. 

 Indeed, this reduction is almost proportionate to the rainfall. 



