116 J. Eliot— T/^e Sonth-West Monsoon Storms [No. 2, 



were very light and variable, and of average force not exceeding 2. The 

 strong advancing south-westerly current was opposed by the line of the 

 Arrakan hills, by the resistances due to friction between itself and the 

 earth's surface, iand by the slower moving air currents to the west. The 

 actual effect of the various resistances was to produce a deflection of the 

 current to the west in the neighbourhood of the Burmese and Arrakan 

 coasts, and a large amount of eddying or rotatory motion in the front of 

 the current, and, therefore, also of ascensional motion and its concomitant 

 action (in the case of a very humid current), rainfall. The energy or latent 

 heat given out in the process of condensation, or rain formation, in its turn 

 increased the ascensional motion, and the various actions and reactions 

 gave rise to an extensive whirl near the Head of the Bay. The existence 

 of this was plainly indicated on the morning of the 27th, when winds 

 shifted round to north-east over the north-west of the Bay. Very 

 heavy rain ("torrents of rain") were then falling over a comparatively 

 small area near the Head of the Bay, which became an area of increasing 

 barometric depression and of cyclonic air motion. The disturbance 

 increased in intensity on the 28th and moved slowly westwards near 

 the parallel of 21° N. At 10 A. m. of the 29th, the centre of the 

 depression was between the Light Vessels at the Intermediate and 

 Upper Gasper stations. It was then travelling with an average velocity 

 of about 3 miles an hour. Its rate of motion apparently increased as it 

 approached the Balasore coast. 



The storm advanced in a general W.N. W. direction during the 

 afternoon of the 29th, and crossed the Balasore coast a few miles 

 to the north of the station of Balasore a little before midnight. It 

 then apparently marched without change of direction across the North 

 Orissa hills, as, next morning at 10 A. M., the centre of the barometric de" 

 pression was near to Sambalpore and in the continuation of its line of 

 its advance on the 29th. The disturbance apparently diminished for 

 some time, but began to draw supplies of vapour from the Bombay 

 branch of the monsoon current, which had been blowing strongly for some 

 days previous. In consequence of the increased energy thus given to it, 

 it again intensified slightly and moved almost due westward across the 

 Head of the Peninsula at an average rate of about fifteen miles per hour. 

 On the morning of the 1st, the centre was near Seoni, on the morning 

 of the 2nd near Indore, and on the morning of the 3rd near Bhuj, 

 whence it passed westwards across the coast into the Arabian Sea, 

 and was a little to the south of Kurrachee on the evening of the 3rd. The 

 wind directions at Kurrachee and the neighbouring stations indicated 

 cyclonic indraught to a centre, to the south-west of Kurrachee on the 

 morning of the 4th, after which they give no further indications of 



