P L A T E XXXVI.
KlLiJNG GAME AT THE INUNDATION OF AN ISLAND.
T i l l several rivers llirmiglimil: India, lilie llioso ill Africa, )iavc iheir aiinlial
„ c r i o d of increase. Perlia,» a sligla rise of a few inclies, rarely so mucli as a
,vliole fool, may uAc placc alioiil llic latlcrend ofMay, in lliose principal rivers
wliicli have ll.Jir sources among the mountains lo llic norllnvard. This partial
cBcct is attribuled lo llie heat of the >,eallier ivliicli, dissolving the snows
lliat often cover their summits .luring the whole year, increases the lakes, and
b y their overlloning adds a slight augmentation to those small -streams which,
issuing from them, form ihe co'imnciieemcut of the most important rivers, such
as the Ganges and ihe Barailipootcr. Unless we consider such lo be the cause,
we may in vain seek lo account for ihe increase; especially as ihe whole
eoiinlrv ,.resells an arid, parche.l surface; and, witli ihc execplion of the few
slight showers which occasionally attend the stpialls called iiorlli-ivcsters, no
rain ever falls from the moiilh of September to ihc middle of June.
N o r t h - w e s t e r s are so callcd from their usually commencing or terminating
w i t h a violent gust ti'om that ipiarler. For the most pari ihcy occur towards
the evening, after very sultry days, and give ample notice by a gradual colleelion
of opaque clouds extending slowly as the squall gathers strength, or app
r o a c h e s ; and are ushered in with deep thunder, and remarkably vivid lightiiiug.
The forec of ihese north-weslers is prodigious ; sometimes large vessels
a r e struck at their anchors, being absolutely blown under water. Should a
l a r g e ship not sutlicicntly ballasted by accident expose her siile lo the gale, it
woulil be a chance but she were laid down, and perhaps completely overset:
and this, though at Calcutta, at a distance of at least seventy miles from ihe
sea. Often immense trees, the sturdy burghut not execplcd, are laid prostrate ;
being lorn up by the roots, leaving cavities of many thousands of cubic feet I
Houses are not only unroofed, but at limes are blown down. Substantial
thatches, of a foot in ihickness, may be seen Hying like sllcels of ].aper, or are
p e r h a p s curled up like rolls of leather, &c.
For the most part, north-westers commence wi t h a violent gust of wind, conveying
clouds of dusl, which obscure ihc atmosphere. A remarkable instance
occurred in May 1795. when a north-wester, whicli came on ver y suddenly, produced
the most awful sensations; it was attended with such darkness as far
exceeded nocturnal obscuri ty: il was not a " darkness visible," but absolutel y precluded
the possibilit y of distinelion or discernment even of ihe nearest objects on
the earth. There was not a cloud of any size to be seen; the sun shone bright,
and through the immense body of dust which, floating to a great height in the
air, had bereft us of its inf luence, presented the a[)pearanee, when looking to the
west, of an immense conflagration. The storm, which was at first so severe as to
dash birds to ihe ground, lasted for about an hour, during which our sense of
seeing became a mere nullity : indeed ihe dusl was so ver y obnoxious as lo render
it necessary to put handkerchiefs over our faces. The btmguloia trembled under
t h e i r creaking roofs; and il became doubtful whether the plain were not to be
p r e f e r r e d 10 the dwelling. Al length the tenebrous power subsided, and we sat
down to an exeellcnl dinner which, by means of a clean table cloth spread over
i t just as il had been put into the dishes, was tolerably clear from gr i t : the
b o t t l e circulated; and our apprehensions not only vanished, bnl made way for
r a i l l e ry al our mutual synqitoms of consternation.
I t should be remarked, tbal some years before, a very large cantonment had
been almost destroyed during a north-wester. A boat was repairing on the
bank of the river, and the first gust of wind carried some embers from under
t h e pilch keltic into a thatch, from which the lire soon expanded, and was, by
the force of ihe tempest, communicated to many others ; whence a very large
Jiortion of the barracks and officers' liungnlows were ilestroyeil. The sun being
t h e n nearly in the north-west, and the wind coming f rom the same (|uartcr, presented
a terrifying mement o of the former accident, and caused the most lively
a]iprchensions lo us, who, had ihere been occasion to retreat easterly, must have
swum over a branch of the Ganges, ere we could have been in safety. It is
w o r t h y of being recorded thai this most extraordinary phenomenon extended
in breadth, on the same day, from Arnopshier to Palna : a distance of at least
four hundred miles in the most direct line I Not a drop of rain fell in its
whole course.
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