190 Floods in India of 1849. [No. 2. 



heavy rain fell at Wuzeerabsd and Lahore. At Delhi and so on to 

 Benares after the first down-pour, the rains became light and irregular : 

 at Almorah, during the first four days of August, a very heavy fall 

 occurred. At Allahabad scarcely a shower fell betwixt the 24th June 

 and 4th August, when on the 5th, a tremendous down-pour occurred, 

 and so continued till the 15th. 



Up to the middle of August scarcely a drop had fallen since the end 

 of June and commencement of July, and the crops were completely 

 burnt up : the river Bheema was nearly dry, and at Jaunpore the cul- 

 tivators were endeavouring to keep their cattle alive with sugarcane. 

 While abundance of moisture was making its appearance on every side, 

 at Ferozepore, and all along to the S. E. branch of the Sutlej, a few 

 casual showers were all that had occurred, the fear of famine beginning 

 to become universal. Around Lahore and Mooltan, and so by the 

 banks of the rivers, the country was completely inundated ; while at 

 Ferozepore the drought continued fierce and unmitigated. At Kurra- 

 chee, in Lower Scinde, where rain rarely ever falls, a heavy shower 

 fell, and some thunder occurred on the 4th August, and again on the 

 16th, the whole month of July having been thick and cloudy, with a 

 few drops of fall every now and then. 



The month of August was generally open all over the country — from 

 the 1 7th, indeed, along the Western Seaboard, the Monsoon appeared 

 to have been over, when on the 1st September it rained with double 

 fury, no less than ten inches having fallen at Bombay, in the course of 

 the week — betwixt 20 and 30 inches fell on the Seaboard, and consider- 

 ably above double this on the mountains in the course of the month — 

 the fall along the Lowlands having been betwixt 130 and 150 for the 

 Monsoon or double the average. On the Eastern Coast again from 

 Lat. 15° S. showers fell during the season, usually fair with them, the 

 dry weather on the Coromandel Coast corresponding with the rains in 

 June, July, August and September in the other parts of India — their 

 own rainy season in November, December and January, was one of the 

 most deficient ever known within the Madras Presidency. 



At the beginning, and again near the middle of August, a tremend- 

 ous fall appears to have occurred along the range of mountains border- 

 ing the Western and North Western Frontier of the Punjab : the Indus, 

 Jhelum, Chenab and Ravee, came down in irresistible fury, and burst 



