CLIMATE AND RAINFALL. 97 



Hence districts which receive little rain, such as Sind, 

 Western Rajputana, parts of the Punjab and also the 

 Carnatic, show the highest temperature during summer. 

 On the other hand, the temperature of Assam is comparatively 

 little affected, because here rain falls copiously even in spring, 



In September the monsoon commences to decline, but in 

 Bengal, Assam and Burma the rains last well into October. 

 In the beginning of the latter month the winds in the western 

 part of the Bay of Bengal begin to blow from the north- 

 east, and now for the first time the hitherto scantily watered 

 Carnatic receives a copious rainfall ; these rains go on until 

 December, when they gradually move southwards to Ceylon. 

 They are followed by a dry steady north-east wind which 

 gradually extends over the whole Bay of Bengal and is 

 known as the north-east monsoon. An easterly wind takes 

 at that period also possession of the Aral)ian Sea. 



Meanwhile in Northern India the temperature, after a 

 temporary slight rise on the cessation of the rains, has fallen 

 rapidly during November and December, producing a cool air 

 and cloudless skies. About the end of the year, however, 

 clouds begin to gather on mountain peaks, warmer breezes 

 from the south set in, the skies become overcast, followed by 

 a fall of rain or snow on the hills. These winter rains are 

 most frequent in the Punjab and the north-western Himalayas, 

 but occasionally they extend also to Bengal, Rajputana and 

 Central India. They become more frequent in .January, 

 February and March. And then a new round of seasons 

 sets in. 



It is almost impossible to give in a limited space an 

 adequate idea of the endless differences in the climate and 

 rainfall. By way of illustration, the table on next page is added 

 in which a series of main groups have been formed. More 

 detailed data must be looked for in the Reports of the Meteoro- 

 logical Reporter to the Government of India, from which the 

 table has been compiled. 



To illustrate the distribution of the rainfall farther, a map 



