170 ICE IN INDIA. 



they rolled themselves in agonies on the parched soil, their 

 tongues hung out of their mouths, and they expired in most 

 exquisite tortures.* Speaking of the Circars, Heyne says, 

 nothing can be more distressing than the failure of the sea- 

 breeze for several successive days, when the land-wind blows 

 all night, and heats every thing so much as to become dis- 

 tressing to the touch. This was the case in the year 1799, 

 in the Northern Circars, for about a fortnight. The ther- 

 mometer at midnight stood at 108° F., and at 8 o'clock, A. 

 M. at 112°. Neither wood nor glass is capable of bearing 

 the heat for any length of time ; the latter, as shades, globe- 

 lanterns, &c., crack and fly in pieces ; the former warps 

 and shrinks, and the nails fall out of the doors and tables. 

 Heyne never saw the thermometer higher than 115° F. in 

 the coolest part of the house. Some persons affirm, that in 

 such cases they have seen it as high as 130° F. The cli- 

 mate in the lovver part of the Carnatic is one of the hottest 

 in India. Frost never occurs in the Deccan, nor to the south 

 of it ; but sometimes the temperature of Hydrabad is only 

 6° or 8° above freezing. In Malwah, during the hot season, 

 the parching winds from the northward and westward, that 

 prevail in most parts of India to an intense degree, are 

 comparatively mild and of short duration. The thermome- 

 ter, however, during the day rises sometimes as high as 98°; 

 but the nights are invariably cool and refreshing. During 

 the cold season the thermometer sinks as low as 28°. In 

 the higher parts of India, as at Delhi, in north lat. 28° 

 37', for example, the winter's cold is sometimes 3° or 4° 

 below the freezing-point of water, and the tanks are frozen 

 entirelv over. In a Persian work called Mutaghevin, or 

 Modern Times, there is mention made of a frost at Delhi 

 which continued three nights, in consequence of which 

 brazen vessels filled with water burst. 



5. Mailing of Ice m India. — Ice is considered a great lux- 

 ury, and hence is made in many parts of the country. All 

 over Upper India it is procured in a very simple manner. 

 A number of broad shallow earthen pans are placed on a 

 layer of dry straw, and filled with water. In the night even 

 the slight frost felt is sufficient to cover these with a thin 

 crust of ice, which is carefully collected and packed up. An 



* Dow's Ferishta, 8ro. edition, ii. 159. 



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