118 



J. Eliot — The South-West Monsoon Storms 



[No. a, 



Lowest 



10 A. M. 



barometric 

 reading. 



Average 



10 A. M. 



barometric 



height. 



July 1st. 



Depression. 



June 29tli.. 

 June 30tli.. 

 July 1st ... 

 July 2nd... 

 July 3rd ... 

 July 4th . 



Bay (Sandheads) 



Sambalpore 



Seoni 



Indore 



Bhuj 



Kurrachee 



29-140 

 29-353 

 29-463 

 29-410 

 29-326 

 29-380 



29-602 

 29-589 

 29-624 

 29-662 

 29-616 

 29-589 



•462 

 •236 

 -161 



•252 

 •290 

 •209 



Hence the barometric depression at the Head of the Bay was very 

 nearly half an inch. During its progress overland, the depression ob- 

 served nowhere exceeded -29'', and, as two of the stations named in the 

 preceding table (Indore and Bhuj) were at a very short distance from 

 the centre, it is almost certain that the barometric depression on land, 

 after crossing the Orissa hills, never exceeded three-tenths of an inch. 

 The decrease in the amount of the depression was evidently due to the 

 greater frictional resistance encountered by the cyclonic disturbance on 

 land than at sea. 



An interesting feature of the storm was that its centre moved in a 

 path which was approximately straight. The general direction of its path 

 was N". 83° W. or almost due west. 



The steady march in an almost constant direction across the Con- 

 tinent is very striking, when the varying character of the surface over 

 which it passed is taken into consideration. During the first part of its 

 existence, it passed slowly over the water surface at the Head of the 

 Bay, where the resistance to its motion was a minimum. After cross- 

 ing the Balasore coast, it advanced intact over the North Orissa hills, a 

 very broken and irregular country, the highest points of which are from 

 3000 to 4000 ft. high. It then crossed the highlands of Sambalpore 

 (where the hills which rise out from the plateau attain an elevation vary- 

 ing from 1,500 to 2,500 feet) and passed over the comparatively low plain 

 of Chattisgarh, the average height of which is less than 1000 feet. Thence 

 it advanced through the Balaghat, Seoni, Chhindwara, and Betul districts 

 of the Central Provinces, which cover the extensive highlands known as 



