58 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. [PART I. 



March. In March the heat continues to increase, 

 wind N.E. to N.W. tne earth receiving more warmth than 

 Temperature, 24 hours : it radiates or parts with by evapora- 



Mean greatest 877 ? J r 



Mean least . . 73-1 tion. The day becomes oppressive, 

 Rain (inches) . . . 2-i t k e ^glits unrefreshing, the grass is 

 withered and brown, the earth hard and cleft, the lakes 

 shrunk to shallows, and the rivers evaporated to dry- 

 ness. Europeans now escape from the low country, and 

 betake themselves to the shade of the forests adjoining 

 the coffee-plantations in the hills ; or to the still higher 

 sanatarium of Neuera-ellia, nearly the loftiest plateau in 

 the mountains of the Kandyan range. The winds, when 

 any are perceptible, are faint and unsteady with a still 

 increasing westerly tendency, partial showers sometimes 

 fall, and thunder begins to mutter towards sunset. At 

 the close of the month, the mean temperature will be 

 found to have advanced about a degree, but the sensible 

 temperature and the force of the sun's rays are felt in a 

 still more perceptible proportion. 



April is by far the most oppressive portion of the year 

 wind N.W. to s.w. f r those who remain at the sea-level 

 Temperature, 24 hours: of the island. The temperature con- 

 Mean greatest . 88-7 . . , -i 



Mean least . . . 73-6 tmues to rise as the sun in his northern 

 Ram (inches) ... 7-4 p rO gress passes vertically over the 

 island. A mirage fills the hollows with mimic water ; the 

 heat in close apartments becomes extreme, and every 

 living creature flies to the shade from the suffocating 

 glare of mid-day. At length the sea exhibits symptoms 

 of an approaching change, a ground swell sets in from 

 the west, and the breeze towards sunset brings clouds and 

 grateful showers. At the end of the month the mean 

 temperature attains its greatest height during the year, 

 being about 88 in the day, and 10 lower at night. 



May is signalised by the great event of the change 

 wind N.W. to s. w. f tne monsoon, and all the grand 

 Temperature, 24 hours : phenomena which accompany its ap- 



Mean greatest . 87'2 J 



Mean least . . 72-9 proach. 

 Rain (inches) . . 13'3 j t ^ fflfofa for any Qne who hag not 



