40 Papers. [March, 



Ten days later the Fioneer wrote as follows : " On the 26th or 27th 

 September the Meteorological Bureau seems to have arrived at the 

 conclusion that fine weather conditions were becoming established over 

 Upper India just on the eve of one of the most heavy and prolonged 

 bursts of rainfall that can ever have been recorded so late in the year. 

 Even now the daily telegrams seem to shew no appreciation of the 

 extraordinary character of the season, &c." 



It is pointed out in the paper that the subordinates of the 

 Weather Bureaus who issued the warnings thus criticised had no 

 alternative on the present system of looking towards the sea region 

 to the South of India for all changes in the monsoon rainfall. Also 

 that in this as in previous cases of the same kind exceptionally fine 

 settled weather prevailed over the southern sea and the Bay of 

 Bengal just before the commencement of the period of heavy rain- 

 fall, and that there was no appearance of a cyclonic storm of even 

 slight intensity having entered Northern India until the second stage 

 of the disturbance. On the other hand it is pointed out that in the 

 North of Bengal, at a time when weather was fine in the South, 

 thunderstorms began and spread southwards over Bengal. They first 

 occurred in Assam and the Darjeeling Himalayas on the 23rd or 24th, 

 in support of which there is recalled the experience of Puja holiday- 

 seekers who left Calcutta in fine weather and found the Darjee- 

 ling railway badly breached. The thunderstorms spread southwards, 

 and the change occurred in Lower Bengal on the evening of 

 the 25th. A temperature tracing is given showing the thunder- 

 storms of the 25th and 26th at Calcutta, and the subsequent gradual 

 formation of a depression over Lower Bengal. This depression was 

 most marked on the 29th, after which it moved westward and recurving 

 in Central India towards the United Provinces caused the commence- 

 ment of the heavy burst of belated rainfall which called forth the 

 criticism of the Pioneer already quoted. 



It has been proved in these papers that such an occurrence as what 

 is called a Himalayan storm is followed by remarkable series of depres- 

 sions over the north of the Bay, a striking example being the series 

 which saved Western India from crop failure in August 1902. On this 

 occasion two depressions formed ; the first has been already mentioned. 

 The second formed a week later, and following an almost identical 

 course, maintained the rainfall in the United Provinces. 



Brief quotations are given from the writings of Mr. H. F. Blanford 

 and Sir J. Eliot to show that on the system introduced by the latter it 

 was impossible to forsee the change which then began, because on that 

 system all such changes are initiated over the southern seas, and on this 



