CHAP. II.] 



EAIX. 



CLIMATE. 



li- 



the same moment the opposite extremes of drought and 

 moisture. 1 



On the east coast, on the other hand, the fall, during 

 the north-east monsoon, is very similar in degree to 

 that on the coast of Coromandel, as the mountains are 

 lower and more remote from the sea, the clouds are 

 carried further inland, and it rains simultaneously on 

 both sides of the island, though much less on the west 

 than during tHe other monsoon. 



The climate of Galle, as already stated, resembles in 

 its general characteristics that of Colombo, but, being 

 further to the south, and more equally exposed to the 

 influence of both the monsoons, the temperature is 

 not quite so high ; and, during the cold season, it falls 

 some degrees lower, especially in the evening and early 

 morning. 2 



Kandy, from its position, shares in the climate of the 

 western coast ; but, owing to the frequency of mountain 

 showers, and the situation of the city, at an elevation of 

 upwards of sixteen hundred feet above the level of the 

 sea, it enjoys a much cooler temperature. The surrounding 

 hills differ from the low country in one particular, which 

 is very striking the early period of the day at which 

 the maximum heat is attained. This at Colombo is 

 generally between two and three o'clock in the after- 

 noon, whereas at Kandy the thermometer shows the 



1 ADMIRAL FITZROY has described, 

 in his Narrative of tlie Voyages of the 

 Adventure and Beagle, the striking 

 degree in which this simultaneous 

 dissimilarity of climate is exhibited 

 on opposite sides of the Galapagos 

 Islands ; one aspect exposed to the 

 south being covered with verdure 

 and freshened with moisture, whilst 

 all others are ban-en and parched. 

 Vol. ii. p. 502-3. The same state of 

 things exists in the east and west 

 sides of the Peruvian Andes, and in 

 the mountains of Patagonia. And 

 no more remarkable example of it 

 exists than in the island of Socotra, 



east of the Straits of Bab el Mandeb, 

 the west coast of which, during the 

 north-east monsoon, is destitute of 

 rain and verdure, whilst the eastern 

 side is enriched by streams and co- 

 vered by luxuriant pasturage. Journ. 

 Asiat. Soc. Seng. vol. iv. p. 141. 



3 At Point-de-Galle, in 1854, the 

 number of rainy days was as follows : 



Days. Days. 



12 July . . 11 



7 August 



January . 

 February 

 March . 

 April . . 

 May . '. 

 June . 



September 

 October . 

 November 

 December 



F 2 



