1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1089 



over without notice, for we may fairly say from them, that though the 

 storm was not felt there at the surface of the earth it was distinctly 

 seen over head in the " clouds driving about in all directions and 

 winds very gusty" of the Gya report, and the more express " upper 

 dark masses of clouds whirling about in a most extraordinary manner, 

 but driving towards the N. E." of that from Amooah. From the 

 nature of the ground, — Gya being perhaps at least 800 feet, and 

 Amooah 500 feet above the level of Calcutta, — the storm had already 

 been lifted by the intervening hills, and thus received an upward im- 

 pulse.* We know of no force to propagate it again downwards, 

 particularly as having discharged so much of its rain, and meeting the 

 warm air of the N. Western Provinces after the dry season, it was 

 probably thereabouts less dense than the lower strata. The whole seems, 

 from Mr. Batten's graphic report from Almora, to have been driven en 

 masse against the flanks of the hills to the N. W., producing the 

 thunder storms and the phenomenon described at the intervening 

 stations. 



The situation of Gya should also be mentioned with reference to this 

 phenomenon. It lies, as marked on our Chart, in latitude 24° 49' N., 

 longitude 85° 5' E.,and is thus 125 miles to the W. by S. of Bhaugul- 

 pore. Before reaching Gya, however, in a direct line from Calcutta, the 

 range of the Ramghur hills, which bounds the valley of the Damooda 

 on the North side and at Hazareebaugh rises to 1 100 feet in height, has 

 to be passed over, after which the ground descends before rising again 

 from the hills, forming the valley of the Sone river, so that we may 

 suppose this part of the storm to have been raised by the Hazaree- 

 baugh range, high enough to allow it to pass over Gya. ?* 



* The following is an extract from a private letter of Mr. Redfield's to me, relating 

 to this view of the subject: — 



" It will not be surprising, if we find that the regular exhibition of the gale or hurri- 

 cane on the surface of the Bay of Bengal, and the adjacent coasts, is more or less dis- 

 turbed or interfered with by the influence of the wooded countries, and particularly the 

 high lands to the East and North of this arm of the sea, over which elevations the wind 

 must pass before it can be felt upon the Bay or the Peninsula. In most other coun- 

 tries this sheltering influence appears to be great, often lifting one side of the gale, or 

 a part thereof, above the surface of the sea; so that this side of the gale is only noticed 

 by its influence on the Barometer, or by the rain which may attend it. Much irregu- 

 larity also prevails in this and other cases in the extent of the quiescent centre of the 

 gale, and in the strength and shifts of the violent winds near to the borders of this 

 centre, and they have been known to shift backward and forward in fitful and irregu- 

 lar changes." 



