INDIA, OR HINDOSTAN. 



937 



lower neights are covered with the fruits and grains of temperate climates ; the higher elevations 

 are clothed with the fine forests of northern regions ; while the loftiest pinnacles are buried be- 

 neath the perpetual snows of the Arctic zone. The low, hot countries are commonly unhealthy 

 for Europeans, and sanitary stations have been established in the hill provinces, to which those 

 who are suffering from fever, dysentery, or liver complaint, the diseases engendered in the for- 

 mer, remove for the restoration of their health. In the dry, sandy plains of some parts of the 

 country, coup de soleil, or stroke of the sun, not unfrequently occurs by exposure to the intense 

 heat of the solar rays. In general, the year is divided into three seasons, the rainy, cold, and 

 hot ; the rainy extends from June to October ; the cold, from November to February ; and the 

 hot, from March to May. The healthy season may be said to be from November to the setting 

 in of the rains ; and the unhealthy season, during the period of the rains, and a short time after their 

 termination. The northeast monsoon prevails during one half of the year, and the southwest dur- 

 ing the other half. The monsoons are 

 — generally ushered in by furious storms, 



which deluge the country with rains, 

 blow down the trees, and destroy the 

 crops and houses of the inhabitants. 

 In the southern part of Hindostan, the 

 mountains running from north to south, 

 render it winter on one side, while it is 

 summer on the other. About the end 

 of June, a southwest wind begins to 

 blow from the sea, on the coast of Ma- 

 labar, which, with continual rain, lasts 

 4 months, during which time all is se- 

 rene upon the coast of Coromandel. 

 Near the end of October, the rainy sea- 

 son and the change of the monsoons be- 

 gin on the latter coast ; and, as it is de- 

 stitute of secure harbors, ships are then 

 obliged to leave it. The air is naturally 

 hot in this division of India ; but it is 

 ; that is, from midnight to noon it blows 

 off the land, when it is intolerably hot; and during the other 12 hours, from the sea, which 

 proves a great refreshment to the inhabitants of the coast. 



6. Soil. The soil of this country is in many parts so excellent as to consist of black, vege- 

 table mould to the depth of 6 feet. In Bengal, the Ganges annually overflows the country to 

 the extent of more than 100 miles in width, which inundation greatly fertilizes the land, and the 

 periodical rains and intense heat produce an extraordinary luxuriance of vegetation. 



7. jYatiiral Productions. Laige 

 forests are found in various parts of 

 this extensive country, and on the 

 coast of Malabar, they consist of trees 

 of a prodigious size. The teak tree 

 ( Tectoria grandis) affords a strong 

 and durable timber, which is well cal- 

 culated for ship-building, as teak-ships 

 that have been in service for 30 years 

 are not uncommon in the Indian seas, 

 while a European built ship is ruined 

 there in 5 years. The cocoa tree 

 (Cocos nucifera) is remarkable for its 

 extensive utility ; of the body or trunk, 

 the natives make boats, and frames 

 and rafters for their houses ; they 

 thatch their houses with the leaves, 

 and, by slitting them lengthwise, make 

 food, drink, and a valuable oil From the branches, 



Setting in of Monsoons. 



refreshed by breezes, the wind altering every 12 hours 



mats and baskets. 



Banyan Trees. 



The 



nut affords 

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