INDIA. 



75 



R..r. 



ing unequal portions of the year. The northeily wind 

 prevails during the cold season, that i, during October, 



rnbcr, and December ; and the southerly one dur- 

 ing the hot, that i, from March to the end of May. 

 In the eastern |>arts of Bengal, a north-west wind be- 



il'tnit the middle of March. Durinp the preva- 

 il, there are sudden and violent squalls 

 of wind and rain, which are often very destructive to 

 the boats on the Ganges. These squalls are more fre- 

 quent in the eastern than in the western parts of Ben- 

 gal. The most settled weather is between the end of 

 the rainy season and the beginning of the north-west 

 wind. The season* in Bengal are generally divided 

 into cold, hot, and dry ; but the natives are more mi- 

 nute in their divisions, assigning six seasons to the 

 year. The spring and dry season occupy four months, 

 that is, February, March, April, and May. The peri- 

 odical rains commence nearly at the same time over the 

 whole of this part of Hindo*tan, that is, in the begin- 

 ning of Jure. During the first two months there is 

 scarcely an interval of two dry days ; and the rain falls 

 in such abundance, that four and five inches have fallen 

 in the course of a single day. In Augut and Septem- 

 ber the interval* are more frequent and of longer dura- 

 tion, and the weather become* sultry. As the cold 

 approaches, fogs and dews are very common and 

 This description of the climate of the province 

 of Bengal will apply, in almost every particular, to the 

 climate of the whole of Hmdoatan Proper, except that 

 in the mountainous part* the rainy season begin* early 

 in April. In Ilahar al*o, and the contiguous district*, 

 strong parching wind blows from the west during 

 the greatest part of the hot season: but it is not steady, 

 nor very regular; for it sometimes ceaae* altogether, 

 and is succeeded for a few day* by an easterly wind ; 

 and even after a parching wind from the west in the 

 day time, a cool easterly brrexe will tet in a* night. 



he we*t of this province these parching wind* are 

 more frequent, as well a* mm oppreaure and prejudi. 

 cial to vegetation. 



When the quantity of rain that not unfreqnently (all* 

 in Bengal, in the coune of a (ingle day, during the 

 rainy eaaon. and the long continuance of that i talon, 

 are considered, we (hall not be surprised, that the ave- 

 rage annual fall of rain in the lower part* of the pro- 

 should be batween TO and 8O inches. During the 

 outh-weat monaoon at Bombay, the quantity of rain 

 generally exceed* 100 inch**; aometime* k reaches 



r 1 12 inches. At Madras, according to Mr. Cock- 

 burne, who was examined before the Select Committee 

 on the alfairs of the Fast India Company in the year 

 1813, upwards of SO inches fall in the course of one 

 month; and vet he estimate* that only from 45 to TO 

 ..-, fall in the count of the yaw, according 

 to the situation and severity of the nmnanon Daring 

 the first part of the rainy monsoon on the coast of Ma- 

 labar, that u, in the month* of May and June, a consi- 

 derable quantity of rain fall* in the Table- land of My. 

 ore ; but it i* uncertain whether this is the effect of 

 the monsoon, or i* merely the periodical tropical rain. 

 In the north- western extremity of the Rajah of Mysore's 

 territories, on the summit of the western Ghaut*, there 

 are tuuaUy nine rainy month* in the year. During six 

 of these months the rain is *o violent and constant, that 



.roposaible to go abroad, and it is cuatnmary to 

 make the same preparatory arrangement* for provwion, 

 ( water excepted,) a* are. adopted in a ship proceeding 

 on a voyage." The elevation ot this pan ol India is so 

 great/thal the climate i* a month later than it is on the 



tea coast. In the mountainous parts of the province of ^Statistics. 

 Coimbetoor, there are two rainy seasons; the first is in '"""Y"""*' 

 April, and the second in July, August, September, and 

 October. The north-west parts of Hindostan Proper 

 seem the driest with respect to climate. " During the 

 greater part of the south-west monsoon, or at least in 

 the months of July, August, and part of September, 

 (which is the rainy season in most other parts of India, ) 

 the atmosphere is here generally clouded ; but no rain 

 falls, except very near the sea. Indeed very few showers 

 fall during the whole year. Captain Hamilton says, 

 that no rain had fallen during the three years preceding 

 hi- visit to Tatta. Owing to this, and the neighbour. 

 hood of the sandy deserts which bound it to the east, and 

 are not far removed from it in the north-west, the heats 

 are so violent, and the winds from those quarters so per- 

 nicious, that the houses are contrived sou to be occasion- 

 ally ventilated, by means of apertures on the tops of 

 them, resembling the funnels of small chimnies. When 

 the hot winds prevail the windows are closely shut, 

 by which the hottest part of the current of air (that 

 nearest the surface, of course) is excluded, and a cool- 

 er part, because more elevated, descend* into the house 

 through the funnels. By tin* means also vast cloud* 

 of dust are excluded, the entry of which alone would be 

 sufficient to render the nooses uninhabitable.'' (Hay- 

 nail, p. 132.) 



The general temperature of India, it is evident, must Tempera- 

 be very nigh, especially in those part*, which, like Sinde, tun. 

 are of a sandy coil, and dry climate, and in the more 

 southern province*. In the more elevated region*, 

 however, a considerable degree of cold i* often experi. 

 At Calcutta, the following i* the range of the 

 'ram October to April, with the preva- 

 is during that period. 



lent 



October . . 



November. 



1 Voc'nlnT . 

 January . . 

 February . 

 March. . . 

 April . . . 



ttt 



M 



M 



1"V 

 110 



70 

 60 

 59 

 65 

 68 

 7 



n 



Winds. 

 North 



do. 



North-eat 

 do. 

 do. 

 South 

 do. 



In Calcutta, the heat is tometimes to interne that 

 pigeon* drop down dead at noon, while flying over the 

 market-place. In the middle districts of the province 

 of Bengal there are occasional thunder storm* during 

 the not season, which render the atmosphere cool ; and 

 in the eastern districts the same effect is produced by 

 occasional shower* of rain. In the higher part* of Ben- 

 gal, the weather is sometimes very cold. Between the 

 latitude* of and 29, in the province of Delhi, the 

 beat during summer i* very intense ; but when the 

 wind blows from the northern mountains in the win- 

 ter, the thermometer fall* below 30, and water freezes 

 in the tent*. The same description applies to the Shah- 

 ram pore district of Delhi, which lies farther to the north, 

 principally in the Doab. But the cold here is moderate, 

 compared with what it is in some part* of Northern 

 Hindustan. At the end of May in the year 18O8, tlu-iv 

 were masses of snow, about 7" t<t-t in lliickne**, lying 

 undisturbed on the road to Bhadrinah, in latitude 30. 

 in the Benares district of Allahabad, the cold of 

 the winter is so severe, as to render fire* neceaaary, 

 while in April, May, and June, the heat i* very o|i 

 sive. The winter* in the Decan, which contain* a I 

 portion of high land, are cold. At Hyderabad, and I 



