396 
a faithful abridgment of it; obferving at 
the fame time, that it is an enquiry, 
that has been hitherto but toe much 
neglected. 
Pliny has entered into along difqui- 
fitien concernis,¢ the Indies, and has 
devoted two entire books of his. Natural 
Climate of India; 
{ March, 
And, 4°..by the abundance or defi- 
ciency of rains. 
But in the table-land of Myfore, at the 
diftance of 150 miles from Madras, and 
in the fame parallel of latitude, the ther- 
mometer, at fun-rife, during November, 
December, January, and February, is 
Hiftory (lib. xu. and xiii.) to the defcrip-__found to fink 15 degrees below the tem- 
tion of the fpices, perfumes, aromatics, 
&c. of Afia, but he has faid little or 
nothing on this head. Modern travel- 
lers, notwithftanding the advantage of 
the thermometer, have not difplayed 
much greater accuracy; and I cannotfind 
a fingle word in the laborious quarto of 
Robertfon, on this interefting fubjeét. 
The author is unable to afcertain the 
“mean temperature of India ;"’ his ob- 
fervations extend only to the fouthern 
parts of the peninfula, and the mean 
heat of the coaft of Coromandel. The 
‘diftinguifhing charaéteriftic of this cli- 
mate, is its wrzformity uf temperature, and 
in the open parts of the coaft it is never 
fubjeét to any fudden or violent changes. 
it appears, from a regifter kept at Ma- 
dras, during four fucceflive years, 
1°. That the heat ‘at the fame hour, 
day, and month, each year, varied but 
little : 
2°, That the difference of temperature 
between morning, noon, and midnight, 
was often not more than two or three 
degrees; was, in general, about fix or 
feven, and hardly ever exceeded ten : 
3°. That the mean range of the ther- 
mometer, from the one year’s end to the 
other, was confined within the limits of 
25°, and that even taking into account 
the unutfual heats and colds of particular 
feafons, the whole fcale of temperature, 
from its moft oppofite extremes, exceeded 
not 36°, viz. from 64 to 100, which oc- 
curred but once in four years. The ex- 
tremes of heat and cold, here alluded 
to, occupy but an inconfiderable portion 
of the year, and the inhabitant of Ma- 
dras paffes four-fifths of his time ina 
temperature above 76°, and below go®, 
This uniformity, as well as that 
ex 
perienced in many other places of the 
coaft, 1s afcribable to the vicinity of the 
ocean. There is a greater variety of 
climate in the interior parts, attended 
with fudden tranfitions, and intenfe ex- 
tremes of heat and cold, arifing from, 
or at leaft modified by, 1°. the lownefs 
or elevation of the country: | 
2°.By its being mountainous or woody, 
barren or cultivated : 
perature of the chilleft morning in the 
plains of the Carnatic; and in the woody 
country about Shevandroog, a perfon 
experiences a greater change in the {pace 
of twelve hours, than at Madras during 
twelve years, At Arcot, the thermo- 
meter has been found for many days 
together, to rife in the fhade to the 
height of 105. At Poonamallée, during 
part of Apri] and May, 1793, the ther- 
mometer never fell lower than 8g, and 
often rofe above 96, often to 98, and 
fometimes to 103. It is to be obferved, 
however, that this was an unufually hot 
feafon, and no rain had fallen for nearly 
fix months. 
During long -continued rains, as well 
as in a courfe of fair and fettled weather, 
the oppofite extremes of heat and cold 
are continually approximating. During 
the Malabar monfoons of 1789 and 1790, 
the temperature for feveral months was 
between 74 and 84; but the rains were 
very heavy, the fun fometimes entirely 
hid for wecks together, and the earth 
overfhadowed with a gloom and obicu- 
rity, refemblingthe darkeft dayin De- 
cember. at London ;—a curious circum- 
{tance under a vertical fun, at mid-day, 
and within 10 degrees of the line. 
The ftate of cultivation has 4 great 
influence on the temperature. In the 
neighbourhood of Trichonopoly, where 
the lands are annually overflowed by the 
Cavery, the temperature Is more uniform 
and moderate than in the fouthern dif- 
tricts, where the rains are more fcanty, 
and where the inclemency of feafons fo 
frequently affects the growth of the har- 
vefts. At Palamcottah, during the month 
of January, the thermometer has been. 
found to vary from 75 to 89, which is 
far above the heat or Madras and Tri- 
chinopoly, at the fame period. — 
In plains furrounded with hills, it 
may be naturally expeéted, that the fun 
will be very powerful. Accordingly, in 
the valley of Ambore, during the months 
of March, April, and May, there pre- 
yails an intenfe and fultry heat, which 
raifes the thermometer, under the fhade of 
a marquée to 110°. and 132°. But there, 
3°. By the prevalence of the inland as well as at Trichinopoly, the land-. 
winds, and the ftate of the foil cyer winds fetting in during May 
which they pats ; 
or June, 
mitigate 
