198 EVERYDAY LIFE ON A 



CHAPTER XIV 



October 28th. — The great event has at last 

 come. This afternoon we have had a perfect 

 deluge of rain, making me feel glad I got home 

 before the burst, for our roads cut up very fast, 

 which makes it heavy work for my little 

 Hackery bull ; also the contents of a box 

 carried on a man's head through pouring rain 

 would not afterwards present the smartest of ap- 

 pearances. It is curious that at two places not 

 more than thirty-five miles apart, there should 

 have been a difference of five days in the date 

 of the burst of the N.E. monsoon. Probably, it 

 may be accounted for by there being a high 

 range of mountains between the two districts. 



November 4th. — The weather is now delight- 

 fully cool. Owing to the morning mist, we have 

 had to give up having our early tea in the 

 verandah, and instead take it by lamplight in 

 the dining-room. It is only just light at mus- 

 ter time (5.30 a.m.) The days are perceptibly 

 shorter, it being almost dark at six o'clock in the 

 evening. Life would be very pleasant were it 



