8o THE CLIMATE OF AUSTRALASIA 



sun spot maximum. The pulse at maximum in 

 the Indian south-west monsoon may depend to 

 a large extent upon the action of the excess of 

 solar heat on the equatorial waters to the south 

 of India, and not on an abnormal effect on the 

 south-east trade." 



The partial dependence of the Indian rainfall 

 upon changes south of the Indian Ocean, even 

 in the Southern Ocean, has been frequently 

 considered. The Lockyers quote the following 

 extract from Eliot's report of 1896, in which the 

 highest official meteorologist in India expresses 

 his belief in the connection between the Indian 

 weather and the circulation of the Southern 

 Ocean. 



" Mr. Eliot long ago conjectured that the rain- 

 fall of India was profoundly modified by events 

 taking place from time to time in the Southern 

 Ocean. In his ' Annual Summary ' for [896 

 he wrote as follows ; 'It has apparently been 

 established in the discussion that the variations 

 of the rainfall in India during the past six years 

 are parallel with, and in part, at least, due to 

 variations in the gradients, and the strength of 

 the winds in the south-east trade regions of the 

 Indian Ocean. The discussion has indicated 

 that there are variations from year to year in 

 the strength of the atmospheric circulation 

 obtaining over the large area of Southern Asia 

 and the Indian Ocean, and that these variations 

 are an important and large factor in determining 

 the periodic variations in the rainfall of the 



