CLIMATE. 123 



debatable ground, comprising part of the Central India States, the 

 Satpura range, the greater part of the Central Provinces, the table 

 land of Chutia Nagpur, Orissa and western Bengal. In this broad 

 belt the rainfall is higher than to the south or north-west of it, 

 chiefly because numerous storms, generated near the Bay of 

 Bengal, travel along it from east to west, their passage being 

 accompanied by heavy rain. 



The country which lies to the north-west of this belt is under the 

 effect of the western branch of the monsoon. Part of this passes 

 through Gujarat, Rajputana, Cutch and Sind towards the Punjab, 

 where it drops varying quantities of rain according to the con- 

 figuration of the country. On the whole, however, the air current 

 from the north-west becomes dryer, as it no longer comes from the 

 ocean, but successively from Arabia, Persia, Baluchistan and 

 Afghanistan ; hence, the rainfall decreases rapidly to the north 

 of Bombay. 



As long as the sea winds are sufficiently strong to keep in check, 

 and even force back, the north-westerly winds during summer, 

 all is well ; but every now and then the reverse is the case, that 

 is to say, the north-west wind forces back the sea winds and 

 proceeds further and further east and south-east into the United 

 Provinces, Behar and even Bengal and Orissa, or it forces its way 

 down into the Peninsula. If it keeps its sway over the sea winds 

 for some period, a failure of the monsoon rains is the consequence, 

 an event which is followed by scarcity or famine. It is believed 

 that the strength of this dry air current from the north-west is 

 intimately connected with the snowfall on the Himalayan ranges ; 

 when that fall is heavy the north-west winds are strong and vice 

 versa. Further observations seem, however, necessary to 

 establish the absolute correctness of this view. 



The copious watering of the surface of the land, in its turn, 

 reduces the temperature, so that in some parts of the country the 

 rainy season is actually the coolest time of the year. Indeed, 

 this reduction is almost proportionate to the rainfall. Hence, 

 districts which receive little rain, such as Sind, Western Rajputana 

 parts of the Punjab, and also the Carnatic, show the highest 

 temperature during summer. On the other hand, the tempera- 

 ture of Assam is comparatively little affected, because here rain 

 falls copiously even in spring. 



