304 KHASIA MOUNTAINS. Chap. XXX. 



papers, and fifteen men were always employed, some in 

 changing, and some in collecting, from morning till night. 

 The coal was procured within a mile of our door, and cost 

 about six shillings a month ; it was of the finest quality, 

 and gave great heat and few ashes. Torrents of rain 

 descended almost daily, twelve inches in as many hours 

 being frequently registered ; and we remarked that it was 

 impossible to judge of the quantity by estimation, an appa- 

 rent deluge sometimes proving much less in amount than 

 much lighter but steadier falls ; hence the greatest fall is 

 probably that in which the drops are moderately large, 

 very close together, and which pass through a saturated 

 atmosphere. The temperature of the rain here and else- 

 where in India was always a degree or two below that of 

 the air. 



Though the temperature in August rose to 75°, we never 

 felt a fire oppressive, owing to the constant damp, and 

 absence of sun. The latter, when it broke through the clouds, 

 shone powerfully, raising the thermometer 20° and 30° in 

 as many minutes. On such occasions, hot blasts of damp 

 wind ascend the valleys, and impinge suddenly against 

 different houses on the flat, giving rise to extraordinary 

 differences between the mean daily temperatures of places 

 not half a mile apart. 



On the 4th of September we started for the village of 

 Chela, which lies west from Churra, at the embouchure of 

 the Boga-panee on the Jheels. The path runs by Mamloo, 

 and down the spur to the Jasper hill (see p. 280) : the vegeta- 

 tion all along is very tropical, and pepper, ginger, maize, 

 and Betel palm, are cultivated around small cottages, which 

 are only distinguishable in the forest by their yellow thatch 

 of dry Calamus (Rattan) leaves. From Jasper hill a very 

 steep ridge leads to another, called Lisouplang, which is 



