Bernier, François, Travels in the Mogul Empire A.D. 1656-1668

(Westminster, Eng. :  Constable,  1891.)

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PERIODICAL RAINS IN THE INDIES      433

From these observations I have been led to believe that
the heat of the earth and the rarefaction of the air are
the principal causes of these rains which they attract.
The atmosphere of the circumjacent seas being colder,
more condensed, and thicker, is filled with clouds drawn
from the w^ater by the great heat of the summer, and
which, driven and agitated by the winds, discharge them¬
selves naturally upon land, where the atmosphere is hotter,
more rarefied, lighter, and less resisting than on the sea;
and thus this discharge is more or less tardy and plentiful,
according as the heat comes early or late, and is more or
less intense.

It is also in accord with the observations contained in
this dissertation to suppose that if the rains commence
sooner on the coast of Koromandel than on the coast of
Malabar, it is only because the summer is earlier; and
that it is earlier may be owing to particular causes which it
would not perhaps be difficult to ascertain if the country
were properly examined. We know that according to the
different situations of lands, in respect of seas or mountains,
and in proportion as they are sandy, hilly, or covered with
wood, summer is felt more or less early, and with greater
or less violence.

Nor is it surprising that the rains come from different
quarters; that on the coast of Koromandel, for example,
they come from the south, and on the Malabar coast from
the west; because it is apparently the nearest sea which
sends the rain; and the sea nearest the Koromandel coast,
and to which it is more immediately exposed, lies to the
south; as the sea which washes the coast of Malabar is to
the west, extending itself towards Bab-el-mandel, Arabia,
and the Persian Gulf.

I have imagined, in fine, that although we see at Dehli
the rainy clouds come from the east, yet their origin may
be in the seas which lie to the south of that city: and
being intercepted by some mountains or lands whose at¬
mosphere is colder, more condensed   and resisting,   they

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