36 ON THE EATNTALT, OP STXCUPOHE. 



"With all deference for the opinion thug expressed, I ain sure it 

 will be evident to all who consider the subject, that the wisest plan 

 is not to force or mould natural operations to artificial arrange- 

 ments, but by studying Nature's plans, and, basing our calculations 

 thereon, to get some insight (small though it be) into the wondrous 

 and wise laws which govern this world. 



We find one great influence at work, viz., the Ifonsoons, and in 

 any observations from which correct inferences are intended to be 

 drawn, this must not be lost sight of. The difficulty that one meets, 

 at the very beginning of this enquiry, arises from the questions — 

 "When do the monsoons commence?" " c Is there a fixed day?" 

 " How are they governed?" Maury, in his Physical Geography of 

 the Sea, says : " Monsoons are, for the most part, trade winds deflect- 

 "ed, when, at stated seasons of the year, a trade wind is turned out 

 " of its regular course, as from one quadrant to another, it is regarded 

 " as a monsoon." What then is the stated season ? This has engaged 

 the attention of many ; the " Wiseman " said " The wind goeth toward 

 "the South, and turneth about unto the North; it whirleth about 

 " continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits ;" 

 but, when that stated season actually commences, is still beyond our 

 telling. 



The monsoons we have to deal with, are the North-East and 

 South- West. To quote again from Maury : " A force is exerted 

 " upon the North-East trade winds of that sea by the disturbance 

 " which the heat of summer creates in the atmosphere over the inte- 

 "rior plains of Asia, which is more than sufficient to neutralize the 

 "forces which cause those winds to blow as trade-winds, it arrests 

 " them and turns them back." " These remarkable winds blow over 

 " all that expanse of Northern water that lies between Africa and 

 " the Philippine islands. Throughout this vast expanse, the winds 

 " that are known in other parts of the world as the North-East trades 

 "are here called monsoons, because, instead of blowing from that 

 " quarter for twelve months as in other seas, they only blow for six. 

 " During the remaining six months they are turned back as it were, 

 " for instead of blowing towards the Equator, they blow away from 

 " it. and instead of North-East trades we have South-West monsoon." 



But, although the day of the commencement of either monsoon 

 is not a fixed one, as far as is at present known, there is a time 



