A WHIRLWIND. 
241 
that it had left no inconsiderable tokens of its ravages, 
as several huts were unroofed, over which the storm 
had swept in its destructive fury. 
These sudden tempests frequently occur, and at all 
seasons, occasionally making terrible devastation. It 
is, however, fortunate that the dwellings of the poor 
in India are constructed of materials so readily at- 
tainable and so cheap that the damage done upon 
these occasions is soon repaired, and with little cost ; 
but the crops suffer greatly at times from these visita- 
tions ; though it generally happens that, as the crops 
are produced during the tempestuous season when 
the rain is almost constantly falling and storms are 
frequent, means are taken to protect them against 
such casualties as I have described, and, the common 
grain of the country being a hardy plant, upon the 
whole no serious mischief is done by the violence even 
of the monsoons. The ryots have little more to do 
than to sprinkle their seed upon the surface of the soil, 
which is covered by a very easy process, when it grows 
with great rapidity and repays the trifling labours of 
the husbandman with an abundant return. 
Whirlwinds are not only very common in India, 
but often terribly violent, and I may state here 
what happened to myself whilst I was in the Dec- 
can, near Poonah. I was confined to my bed in a 
bungalow that had been just built. It was covered 
with a strong thatch fixed to thick bamboo beams, 
which had successfully resisted the violence of a re- 
cent monsoon. The day was mild and beautiful, the 
sun flooding every object with its glories, whilst 
there was a gentle breeze which tempered the fer- 
Y 
