INTRODUCTORY. 15 



terraced roofs, constructed of beaten mud, and calculated, therefore, to 

 resist rains of only very short duration. 



The seasons depend on the two great monsoons, but of these the 



south-west monsoon is incomparably the more im- 

 The seasons. 



portant and the more constant in its phenomena. 



Its influence reaches over the whole of the South 



Mahratta Country and far beyond it, into the heart of the Deccan. 



The effects of the north-east monsoon, as a rule, are not greatly felt 



westward of Kaladgi, and the rainfall accompanying it is much less in 



quantity and duration. 



The cold weather lasts from November to the end of February, 

 and during that time fine weather prevails, with strong, dry, easterly 

 winds. Occasional showers occur, however. In March the hot season 

 begins and the temperature rises rapidly. The prevalent wind is a 

 westerly one. In April and May the great heat gives rise to local 

 thunderstorms which are sometimes accompanied by very heavy rain."^ 

 Sufficient rain, however, falls all over the country to make it assume a 

 very much less burnt-up appearance than it had in March. As the 

 south-west monsoon approaches, the storms become more frequent and 

 heavy — so much so, that in some seasons, as in 1874, it is hard to tell 

 which storm is the first burst of the true monsoon. In the Belgaum 

 and Dharwar districts, the advent of the monsoon is generally looked 

 for on or about the 5th of June. The monsoon rains effectually 

 cool the air even further east than Gulbarga and Raichur, and the 

 ploughing of the land for the great crop of jowari is now taken in 

 hand. On the Ghats and near to them, the rainfall is very constant and 

 heavy and continues till well into September ; but further eastward it is 

 fitful, and falls only in showers with intervals of dry weather between. 



* A thunderstorm I experienced at Wafctur on the Kolhapur territory in April 1874, 

 was accompanied by a short, but very severe, hailstorm. The hailstones were decidedly 

 large (i"— 3" in diameter and upwards) and lay unmelted on the ground for some minutes. 



( 15 ) 



