1884.] of the Bay of Bengal m 1883. 173 



rapidly and entirely on the afternoon of the 14th, that light not* th-easterly 

 winds were again established over nearly the whole of the Bay on the 

 morning of the 15th. Tliis speedy restoration of the normal circulation 

 of the air after the disappearance of the disturbance, is perhaps less 

 remarkable than it might seem to be, but is nevertheless noteworthy. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Discussion op the chief features of the Storm op 

 November 10th to 15th. 



The following gives a brief connected narrative of the more im- 

 portant features of the storm. 



After the termination of the south-west monsoon in Bengal in the 

 last week of September 1883, the winds shifted round to north over 

 the Head of the Bay, and the lower air current of the south-west monsoon 

 recurved over the middle of the Bay. The north-east monsoon hence 

 commenced on the Madras coast during the first week of October. Un- 

 usually heavy rain fell over Southern India^ more especially over the 

 eastern districts of the Madras Presidency, during the month of October 

 and the first week of November. During the whole of this interval, the 

 period of the year when the most severe and extensive cyclones are known 

 to occur, the Bay was entirely free from storms. In the beginning of the 

 second week of November, the rainfall rapidly decreased in amount in 

 Madras, and ceased entirely on the 9th and 10th. The logs of vessels 

 shew that winds were, at that time, as they had been for some days 

 previously, very light and variable in the neighbourhood of the Anda- 

 mans and Nicobars. South-westerly winds were re-established at Nan- 

 cowry on the 4th, and south-easterly winds at Port Blair on the 7th, but 

 they were at first very weak. 



The wind observations taken on board the ships Mount Stuart and 

 Scottish Hill prove that, at the same time, winds were unusually light over 

 the centre of the Bay, in the neighbourhood and to the west of the Nicobars 

 and the Andamans. This condition of excessively feeble air motion was 

 very marked on the 7th and 8th. On the 9th, there were indications for 

 the first time of the occurrence of moderately heavy and localized rainfall 

 to the north-east of the Nicobars, and to the east of Port Blair, and also 

 of a shift of wind, significant of the commencement and establishment of 

 cyclonic circulation. On the morning of the 10th, there was a well-defined 

 atmospheric whirl to the east of Port Blair. Weather was at that time 

 cloudy, with very light breezes, and occasional passing showers ; and the 

 sea was smooth, and free from any considerable current over the greater 

 part of the Martabau Gulf, and the north and centre of the Bay. 

 23 



