iS FOOTE : GEOLOGY OF THE BELLARY DISTRICT. 



inches, which is the lowest shown in South India. In reality, however, 

 it is rather less dry than the adjoining parts of Mysore, e.g., the 

 taluqs of Hiriyur and Dodderi, which receive in parts an annual sup- 

 ply of less than 10 inches. 1 



The district is remarkable for its dryness, for, though it is subject to 

 both the monsoons, it gets the full force of 



The monsoons. 



neither. The greater supply of rain is given by 



the south-west monsoon, which blows from the first week in June to 



the beginning of October, the direction of the wind being generally 



from the south-west or west. In October the north-east monsoon 



begins, and north-easterly (and more rarely easterly) winds prevail 



till March, when westerly winds set in, but bring no rain from the 



western sea, the so-called mango showers which occasionally appear 



in April and May being thunder-showers of local origin. 



The cold weather begins with the cessation of the north-east 



monsoon rains in November and lasts till the 

 The cold season. 



end of February. The days are lovely, but the 



nights cold, the thermometer often falling below 55 towards morn- 

 ing. Fogs in the morning are not of common occurrence. They 



rarely interfered with my field-work. One which 

 Fosjs. 



I experienced in January 1890 in Harapanahallr 



taluq was so rich in moisture that all my tents inside a thick mango 

 tope were as perfectly soaked as if a heavy shower had fallen, and 

 the ground around them w*ell wetted, so great was the conden- 

 sation effected by the trees. One tent which stood in the open was 

 left dry. I never witnessed a more striking example of the con- 

 densing power of trees. Had the neighbouring hills been covered 

 by good trees instead of bare, they would have enriched the country 

 with a very welcome supply of moisture, for the condensing process 

 went on for several hours. 



The hot season in Bellary district lasts from the end of Febru- 

 ary to the breaking of the south monsoon — 

 The hot season. ' . „,. . 



generally a little over three months. ine heat 

 . J See Rice's " Gazetteer of Mysore and Coorg," Vol. II, p. 454» 



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