John McCosh

“ A portentous stillness prevads; the leaflets upon the trees hang motionless; the cattle of the field startle home; the birds of prey soar far aloft above the clouds; the natives are seen running for shelter in all directions, and the hum of the multitude in the bazars denotes active preparations being made for a coming storm. Soon the forked lightening flashes among the clouds, the thunder rolls high over head, the sun is eclipsed with dust, and darkness prevails, rendering candles in the house indispensable. ”

“ During the months of May and June there is seldom a fleecy cloud upon the sky to screen the inhabitants from the intensity of the solar ray. A tide of flickering exhalations is seen streaming from the plains, assuming the fantastic forms of the mirage; resembling lakes where no water exists, and trees and forests where no vegetation exists. The earth is parched up, rent and riven as if baked over a volcano ”

“ The slightest wind raises it in clouds, a string of camels darkens the horizon, a cavalry parade obscures the whole hemisphere for hours after; once or twice in a month, in a week, or sometimes in a day, a storm of dust takes place that baffles all description ”

“ The first roll of the thunder is welcome to his ear, as the signal gun of approaching assistance to the almost despairing warrior, and the first drops are as refreshing as a cup of cold water to a feverish patient, as auspicious as the first dew of perspiration on his burning forehead. ”

“ Every light body is caught in its eddies, and twisted up with great velocity to the sky. Its onward motion is crooked and irregular, perhaps only one or two miles an hour, and the noise as it advances resembles the crackling of a large fire. The atmosphere beyond the gyrations is not in the least agitated; and one may walk in company with it, only a few yards apart, and watch its phenomena without being sensible of its force or sprinkled with its dust. ”

“ Hence, every careful man, who consults his health and his economy, has a standing brazier of burning charcoal with a large frame of basket-work, to place over it, which he uses as a kiln to dry his clothes and everything else of value. For a month previous to the monsoon the heat of the day is very great; every article is of a temperature above blood-heat, and on sitting down on a chair one has the idea that some playful person has been heating it as a practical joke. ”

“ At this season there are occasional north-westers, accompanied with rain and sometimes with hail, which cool the air for a day or two, and allay the dust, and are as welcome and as grateful as an oasis in a desert. Great care should be taken to avoid exposure to the direct rays of the sun, for few people, unless called upon by duty, go out of doors during the heat of the day. ”

“ A week only has passed since a heavy fall of rain took place, yet the weather has become oppressively hot. The thermometer 87° to 90°; the atmosphere is loaded with vapour, so that objects cannot be seen a mile off. One feels as if in a vapour bath; and when sitting on a chair under a punkah, the perspiration trickles down the back in streamlets. I have no strength nor spirits to do any thing, both being below zero, and roll upon a couch most of the day. ”

“ The thermometer, though a correct register of heat, is by no means correct as to our feelings. One feels more oppressed in a stagnant atmosphere with a temperature of 80° than in a breeze with it at 90°, as, on the other hand, one is more affected with cold in a windy day with the thermometer at 32° than in a calm day at 22°. It is very remarkable how small the range is between what is agreeable and what oppressive, not more than 5° or 7° ceteris paribus; all heat under 80 is pleasant, at least not complained of, but all above 86 oppressive. ”

“ The Ravee is full to overflowing, and has extended its dimensions up to the city walls and entered some of its gates; every ditch is now become a canal, every hole a pool of water, every hollow a placid lake; islands, isthmuses and peninsulas have started into existence, and given new forms and features to the arid landscape, otherwise so tame and dreary. ”

“ Prickly heat is very generally felt in the hot season. It shows itself inform of a rash or papilliary eruption on all parts of the body most liable to perspiration, with a very uncomfortable disposition to scratch. Though very annoying, it is consoling to think that it is one of the best certificates of good health.
The nature of the wind also modifies our feelings very materially,though the temperature remains the same. Of all winds,the east is the most oppressive when the thermometer stands high, as it is also felt the coldest when the thermometer is low. ”

“ Those who have resided long in the upper provinces are strongly prepossessed in their favour, and on visiting Calutta, their robust persons and ruddy countenances contrast strongly with the sallow complexions and unstrung sinews of those long resident in Bengal.
It is somewhat curious that strangers do not feel the heat so oppressive for the first year after their arrival as they afterwards do, a proof that their constitution becomes enervated; and, on the same principle, an invalid is more overcome by the heat than a man in good health. ”

“ The electric state of the atmosphere has no doubt a great effect upon the constitution, though its mode of action may not be well ascertained. The moon in all countries is blamed for her evil eye, but heat and electricity must exert an equal influence, and the moon is blamed for all; predictions of the weather founded upon the phases of the moon are vague and uncertain,and I think that her effects upon public health are equally difficult to be anticipated. ”

“ Much cloudy weather occurs in the cold season, sometimes for weeks together, every day betokening rain, but it either ends in a dust storm or a few drops.
The peculiarity of the climate of Lahore, I may say of the Punjaub, is the extraordinary drought that exists throughout the year, so that where artificial means are not used to irrigate the soil, the country becomes a desert,hence the excessive aridity, the dust and heat. ”

“ After dark he throws open his doors as a besieged garrison throw open their gates when an invading army has withdrawn, and luxuriates in the welcome sea-breeze that whistles delightful music to his ear as it rustles through his chamber. ”

“ Not a breath is in motion, and one becomes conscious of an increased frequency of inspiration to make up for the rarefaction of the atmosphere. The slightest exertion fatigues one; streams of perspiration trickle down the back while sitting writing at table, and at night the very bed clothes are wet, notwithstanding the indispensable punkah. ”

“ The earth now teems with vegetation; the arid soil becomes a jungle; the growth of plants may almost be watched with the naked eye; and tender shoots run up into stems sixty or eighty feet in height in one season. Animal life is equally prolific; the soil is literally encrusted with toads and frogs and creeping things of every description, and the noise of insects is quite deafening.
The rains are more and more scanty and irregular towards the north-west. In the Punjaub very little falls during the hot season, and beyond the main chain of the Himalayah the monsoon is unknown. ”

“ OF BURMAH.— The climate of Burmah resembles a good deal that of Bengal Proper, the country within the delta of the Irrawaddy being equally flat and liable to inundation; but the monsoon sets in much earlier, generally about the 12th of May, the rains continuing with occasional glimpses of sunshine, until the middle of September; during the rains the atmosphere is so excessively moist that every article in the house becomes mouldy, and unless dried once a week over a charcoal fire, one's clothes would rot in their trunks. ”

“ Carriages of all sorts ought to have a thick cover of white, quilted with cotton to shield them from the sun; and the rider or pedestrian when emergencies require it, will do well to protect himself by a double umbrella and a warm great coat, for the same means that are necessary to keep off cold are equally effective in keeping off heat. ”

“ After traversing the earth for a mile or two, it gradually becomes expended, and its tract remains on the sky for some time after all is quiet on the ground. I feel at a loss to account for such winds by any known theory, though the cause is probably the same as that of the waterspout: they occur only in calm weather, and are not known in a stormy day, nor does either thunder or lightning accompany them, or any change of weather follow them. ”

“ THE PUNJAUB.— The climate of Lahore is very different from that of the Central Provinces along the Ganges, and is quite uninfluenced by the monsoon. The prevailing wind during the hot season is from the east, its cooling properties on a tatty are very feeble, and the delicious coolness and comfort derived from tatties in Upper India are little known at Lahore. ”

“ The heat is consequently very great, and the thermometer ranges from 85° to 95°, or even 100°, in the best houses, rendering punkahs, both night and day, indispensable. The hot weather, really distressing hot weather, however, does not commonly commence till 15th April.
The dust is something incredible. People in England, or even in the Upper Provinces, will not believe, that for days and weeks together the azure vault of heaven, with not a cloud upon it, is as completely eclipsed by impalpable dust as during the densest London fog ”

“ By means of good chicks the house-fly may be kept at bay,but the sand-fly abounds in every room. Though mere phantoms of material creatures, imperceptible to the ear and nearly so to the eye, and best discovered by their own shadow on the wall,and so fragile as to be broken into pieces by the stroke of a horse's hair, yet their bite is like the prick of a red-hot needle ”

“ Boats pursue their course through the interior of the country, over corn fields and orchards, along the highways, or through lately populous streets, the streams of population being replaced by muddy water. ”

“ A mosquito is a trifle to it, a bug or a flea easily repelled in comparison. More sleep is lost by this little wretch than by all other domestic plagues put together, and nothing but a punkah gives one a chance of a night's sleep. ”

“ The natives embark their goods and chattels to keep them dry, and tie their boats to the door posts; where the oxen lately trod out the corn, they swim across to higher pasture; the timid deer is driven from its haunts and glad to claim protection in a cow-house; the elephant and the wild hog swim from island to island and are often captured in the transit ”

“ Large boats navigate the public thoroughfares, and excite nearly as much curiosity as an alligator or a dolphin would do; and if the water rises only three feet higher the whole cantonment of Anarkuullee will be under water, and become a peopled jeel. ”

“ In proportion to the inconvenience suffered now is the abundance of the coming harvest; according to the height to which the waters rise, so high rise the hopes of the husbandman: for a copious sediment of rich alluvial earth is deposited on the lately cropped soil,which requires only to be stirred and sprinkled with grain to return fruit, some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred fold. ”

“ With all the inconveniences of the hot winds, troops in cantonments are more healthy than in the cooler season of the rains which succeeds them. Fortunately, the hot winds carry their own antidote along with them and their action upon a wet tatty, keeps the house comparatively cool. ”

“ This is the wind that blows nobody any good, and it must be an ill wind. It has little or no effect in cooling a tattie. Convalescence is retarded by it,putrefaction hastened by it, and animals as well as vegetables are acutely sensitive to its baneful influence. A horse perspires in half the time when at work in an east wind than he would do in any other wind, and the leaves hang flaccid on their stems as if heated by steam. ”

“ Next to the sand-flies, the crickets are the great annoyance; they keep up a deafening chatter all night long;nor are they free from offence, but gratify their palates upon most things that lie about the room ”

“ They are equally modest and retiring as the sand-fly and the cricket, but do not prey upon humanity. Their particular taste lies in dress coats and warm clothing, paper, and pastry work and furriery; and, unless the owner is constantly on the alert and musters his wardrobe, he will most likely require a new outfit next cold season, when he comes to stand muster himself. ”