s.
Face
Couninte'rcept
.the great /mafs of clouds; and the alternate :S,W. and N. E>
winds; called the, Monfoons; occafion a rainy ,feaJh|iOnone fideofithe
mountains only, that is on the windward fide.* Yet it appears that
during the firft part of the rainy monfoon, in May and June, onithe
coaft of Malabar, a; cpnfiderable quantity of rain falls in the < upper
region or table land of Myfore, &c. Major Rennell obfervesy thalt at
Nagpour, in the very centre -of Hindoftan, the feafons differ brat little
from their iufual courfe in Bengal, and on the weftern fide ; that is’the
S. W. monfoon occafions a rainy feafon, though not fo violent. In the
parallel of, Surat, from the mountains-declining in height, and other
caufeS, there is no Longer that Angularity which occafions; «rain on one
fide Of the Deccan while :the oppofite. feafon. prevails on the otheri The
monfoon is from the N. E. from OSober to Apriland from May to
September, in the oppofite dire&ioa... ,The rkiny feafon. on-.the coaft of
Goromandel is with the N. E.’ monfoon; and on that of Malabar with
the S.W.: in general March,’ April, May,: and June are the dry-months.
• Hence while in .Tibet the winter meanly -coirefpondis with that: .df
Switzerland, and the reft of Europe, in the whole extent of Hindoftan,
except in Gaftrmir, there can hardly be laid to be a iveftige.of winter,
except the thick fogs of our November r and exceflivexaihs, or exceffive
heats, form the chief varieties of the year.
. /.The alpe& of;this, wide .country.is extremely diverfifigd • butUin
general yhereare no-mountains of any:considerable.height,;-lhejhigheft
Gauts inuthefouth not being.eftimated a t .above. Jhrte--.ihaaftad
The frontier mountains of Tibet lax of finall elevatrQn,freompared5With
thofe; of the: interior iof that tountry ; and the ’wonderful exteatof
Hindoftan confifts chiefly of extenfive pjrins, ’fertilized 'by numerous
* Rennell,**9?.' Through; tfie whole of this account of Hindoftan there iias’beeri occafion to
; regret the want o f a geography of that country; regularly digefted frami tht numeroXis detached
, accounts. . M r., Pennant’s work .yields .infinitely to the,.ge,qgrapby of h/s Arftic Z o o lo g y an d
independantly of.its want of plan .'and fub^divifionsj is defe&i’vc even in his ow^pir6Vinc¥, that of
natural hiftofy, as connefted with climate and foil.
In his laft-memoir, page 15, Rennell informs us that in foutjfarn Hindoftan;the Sf'.W;. mon-
jfpop..prevails,. May, June,, and- July, on the W, coaft, and the-N. E. monfoon on'the Oppofite
during a part of' O Sober;1 ‘and all November and Decembet': but'the rain o f the former is1 the
- heavieft, being 7* inches a'.year. ' In Goromandel fttmmer begins.in June. ; in Malabar in O&ober,
when.it is winter in the other. Wefdin, p. 4.
fivers and:- ftreâ'ms, and intérfperfed with a few raageg:of hill's. The Ganei>.
periodical rains:; and int'enfe i l | S produce, a lu xüriatocé 'é f vegetation- X ount
ahnoft; unkiïownutoftany' other f country on ' the ' globe : and" the variety -
-and rich nefs: of the vëgetableéreation delight .the.-eyc of every fpe'iftitô'r/’' *
The foil îi^fTometimesçi ft? . excellent as toietinfift of black vegetable: Soil,
mould to thé)lidepih of. fix feet. Rice;|i& the,'.chief:gram ; and1 on tfie-
dry faridy : lands of, the coaft of •’Goromandel ; great induftry is difplayed-
in -waterillggit.îY 1 " Mai 2Ó and - th e'lugan ca ne fayëltritó 'pr d dü£ts. \
Extreme attêitio'n-%o m&nujlri’foemâ 'far from' beingf ft-, genet al asan;
Gbin£*or Japan'; nor* -perhaps is-it} necdftaiÿ. j f ie 'cultifhtlôüj ofteotton.'
may alfo be conceived to be widely diftufed ; and this plant particularly
thrives on the dry coaft of Coi-omandcl. There- inuft. of:coùrfe .be a
confidêrable - diverfity in the: modes. -of ' agriculture,. as Well as- in the î
produits, through fo wide. ayepuiftry.; but in general' the iofiplerfrentst
are" of the moft fimple defoription, though the /fertility of the'lands ,
amply>iedmpenfate fpr. -ftriSfcSt fo. pra&Lg^pf ihduftiy>^,f $
ui In deferibing the large and nutneröus.fivérs dfiHindéftam, theGangqsi River*.
àndThftùsfii^ll; firft rbeeonfid^d, ffreams^)
ând a’ftr^rr'âeeount pf the principal rivers in thé’ central‘part flaall be1
followed bythbfojn the/fputhem cftvifipn;;•> This ajrangpmeat> naturally'-. ,
: ThecG^nges rfmft ftill - be;-confidered a's-the j^red-fbveretgn; of the. Ganges.
HfadöóïiWers, i.aft attribute soîfjthe:
Burrampooteri si It récrives fueh' a {number 'of. important tributary .
its mapfludèvexceeds ."what- might have.;beenj,expé<9:edl
from'jfche rfcompatative- length .of. its' courfe; whichvmay hojwevefïbe,
eftimated at’about fourteen, hundred Britifh miles, Iwhile the'Hoan-ho
dfi-Ghinaihaa’heen jepmpwt^rat two tfionf^ndiraMtihq ^iànsktt
thouftind two hundred, The fource of the' Gaugef temairis a curioiis .
objeft. ofuttveftigàtion’, ; nor can much reliance bç placddrsfi its,delineation'in]
the mkp of Tibet by the -Chinefo Latnâs, publiftied by Du Halde;
and followed by all füôceçding { geographers. For,, independantly of
the : doubts .which accompany .the delation of thefc Lamas, the reader'
16 Sonnerat, i. _i oS-
* The harveft is divided into .two periods, the Khereef and Rubbeê ; the fariner being in September,
and O Sober ; and the latter in March and April. Af. Ref.' vi. 4J.'
voL.'n. - . m m ■ has