UPPER INDIA. 



northern parts are ripening in the month of March. The 

 winds then set in more steadily and with greater force from 

 the west ; and camp-life, enjoyable through the cold weather, 

 begins to be unpleasant from heat and its accompanying 

 wind and dust. This description of weather lasts, the wind 

 steadily day by day increasing in force, throughout the month. 



Towards the end of March the heat, wind, and dust have 

 increased, and punkahs and tatties are required in the southern 

 parts of Upper India, but are not generally in use in Rohil- 

 cund and further to the north-west till the middle or end of 

 April, by which time we have the hot weather, or season of 

 the hot winds, which lasts through May and June, till the 

 commencement of the rains. 



The utility of tatties, that is their cooling power, depends 

 on the evaporation, caused by the hot dry winds, of water 

 thrown on them ; and as they are only used when the heat is 

 unbearable without them, the hot weather, or season of the 

 hot winds, may be considered well commenced from the time 

 tatties are brought into use. 



The chief characteristic of the hot winds is that they are 

 westerly, that they mostly get up from about 8 to 10 A.M., 

 some three or four hours after sunrise, when the surface of 

 the country has become heated by the rays of the sun ; 

 they are at their greatest force about 2 or 3 P.M., after which 

 they gradually decrease, as the direct incidence of solar heat 

 on the surface of the country decreases, and generally die 

 away about or shortly after sunset. 



The nights during the season of the hot winds are generally 

 calm, and it is not uncommon to have a slightly clouded sky 

 and light east winds in the mornings. This, however, is 

 more frequent in the more eastern parts, while further to the 

 north-west the hot west wind sometimes continues through 



the night. 



B 2 



