34 
THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
are even generally dry. In the months of October and No- 
vember, when the opposite monsoon sets in on the Coromandel 
coast, it is the north of Ceylon which is affected, and scarcely 
any impression of it is felt in the southern parts. 
These monsoons pass slightly over the interior, and seldom 
occasion any considerable inconvenience. But this part of the 
island is not altogether freed from the dreadful storms which 
so terribly ravage the tropical climates. During its own peri- 
odical season, which happens in March and April, the rain 
pours down in torrents, and the thunder and lightning are 
awful to a degree almost inconceivable to an European. 
From the situation of this island, so near the Equator, the 
days and nights are necessarily always of nearly equal length; 
the variation during the two seasons not exceeding fifteen 
minutes. The seasons are more regulated by the monsoons 
than the course of the sun ; for although the island lies to 
the north of the line, the coolest season is during the summer 
solstice, while the western monsoon prevails. Their Spring 
commences in October, and the hottest season is from Janu- 
ary to the beginning of April. The heat, during the day, is 
nearly the same throughout the whole year ; the rainy season 
however, renders the nights much cooler, from the dampness 
of the earth, and the prevalence of winds during the monsoons. 
The climate, upon the whole, is much more temperate than 
on the Continent of India. For though Ceylon lies so near 
the Equator, the heat is by no means so oppressive as I have 
felt it on many parts of the Coromandel coast in a more 
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