1832.] WINDS. 393 
from the northeast, and six from the southwest ; though this is 
not true in every part of India. The northeast monsoon is said 
to begin, near the coast of Coromaiidel, early in October ; but, in 
fact, between the two monsoons (the expiration of the one' and the 
commencement of the other), the winds and currents are variable 
on this coast ; calms frequently prevail during the whole month of 
September, and even in October, with strong currents from the 
northeast to the southwest. At this season the sun is fast ap- 
proaching the equinox, which he crosses about the twenty-second 
of September. As his declination increases from seven to fifteen 
degrees south, which is from the tenth to the thirty-first October, 
his absence from the northern hemisphere begins to be felt ; and as 
the air becomes rarefied to the south, the warm air over the Indian 
Ocean ascends, particularly over the eastern side of the continent 
of Africa ; and the cold air from the north meeting the east trade- 
wind, they press forward progressively, beginning where the rare- 
faction takes place, and continuing to an immense distance---thus 
forming the northeast monsoon. 
The Natal mountains, separating India from China, are always, 
in winter, covered with snow. From this frozen eminence a 
current of cold air will move with considerable velocity towards ^ 
the tropic, on the approach of the sun, until the equilibrium is re- 
stored. At the latter end of January, the sun again begins to re- 
turn towards the north ; and as he approaches the equator, the 
wind in the Gulf of Bengal, near the land, takes a different di- 
rection. The wind on the coast of Coromandel no longer blows 
violently, or regularly, from the northeast, as in the commence- 
ment of the monsoon, and soon dies away to a regular land and 
Seabreeze. But these land and seabreezes do not take place un- 
til some time after the change of each monsoon ; for, at the com- 
mencement of each, the monsoon blows regularly, for a month or 
six weeks, immediately on the coast, with trifling variation froni 
the northeast or southwest, according to the season. 
The wind blows constantly every year on the coast of Coro- 
mandel, to the latter end of January ; continues during February, 
and to the beginning of March, subject to very slight variations ; 
but, as the sun approaches towards the vernal equinox, the winds 
again become variable for some days, as they were about the au- 
tumnal equinox, until his declination is upwards of seven degrees 
