Chap. XYI. 
MONSOONS — HURRICANES. 
Enjoyable. At this time of the year the sun, for 
days, and sometimes for weeks together, rises in 
the morning, runs his course, and sets in the even- 
ing in a sky on which not a cloud has appeared. 
The monsoons which blow steadily along the 
eastern coast of Asia are not so decided in their 
character in Japan as they are in China. Still, 
however, northerly and easterly winds prevail 
from September to April, and southerly and 
westerly during the remainder of the year. Like 
China this country is frequently visited by those 
fearful hurricanes or cyclones, commonly known 
as typhoons, which unroof houses, tear trees out 
of the ground, and wreck many a goodly vessel 
at sea. It is also remarkable, more than any 
country known to me, for the suddenness with 
which gales come on. The morning may be calm 
and beautiful, yet long before noon it may be blow- 
ing a furious gale of wind. 
In Japan the rainy season is much more decided 
in its character than it is in China. The hearty 
way in which the rains come down reminded me 
more of the season in Upper India, amongst the 
southern ranges of the Himalayas, than of that in 
China. But the rainy season in Japan is short 
when compared with India. It usually commences 
about the middle of May and lasts to the middle 
or end of June ; and a glance at the table will show 
that these two months are by far the wettest in 
the year. This is the time when the monsoon is 
changing from north to south. The southerly 
