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Monsoons.

CHAP. V.

Sail for Bengal-The Monsoons-Arrive in the GangesAlligators-The Sunderbunds-Hindoos-Sail for Rangoon-Excursion to Calcutta--Diamond HarbourGarden-reach-Fort William--Sketch of CalcuttaBlack-hole-Climate, &c. of Bengal-Hospitality of the English-Hodges' Description of Calcutta.

1803. WE this morning weighed anchor, in order to Sept. 10. proceed to Bengal with a small convoy of Indiamen, and experienced a very tedious passage along the Coromandel coast. As it was now near the breaking up of the S. W. monsoon, we consequently had frequent squalls, with thunder, lightning, and rain. I need scarcely say, that in India the winds are periodical; blowing six months from one quarter, then shifting, and blowing the other six months in an opposite direction. From the time the sun crosses the equator, on his way to Cancer, in March, until he returns back to it in September, the S. W. monsoon prevails; and from September till March again, the N. E. monsoon prevails *.

* The cause of monsoons is thus briefly stated by Colonel Capper in his Observations on Monsoons, &c. On the Coromandel coast the north-east monsoon commences early in October. At this period we must remember that the sun has passed the equator; and as his declination afterwards increases from seven to fifteen degrees south, between the 10th and 31st October, his absence from the northern hemisphere begins to be felt; and as he at the same time rarefies the air both by sea and land to the southward of the equator; the

Cause of Monsoons.

- It is not to be supposed, however, that it 1803. blows exactly from the S. W. and N. E. during Sept. these periods; there are very great modifications in this particular. For instance, in the course. of the S. W. monsoon, the wind blows from most of the points between south and west; and vice versa in the north-east monsoon. Now it is at the change, or breaking up of these periodical winds, that heavy gales, and even hurricanes, happen in the Indian seas; when the two monsoons seem to be conflicting with each other. After one is fairly set in, however, the breeze is steady with respect to force, the sea smooth, and the skies serene, with some few excep

tions.

We this day got into muddy water, and struck soundings on the Sand Heads, long dangerous shoals lying off the mouths of the Ganges, formed by the sand carried down by the rapid stream of that great river.

warm air then over the Indian ocean, but particularly over the eastern side of the continent of Africa, as usual ascends; and the cool air from the north meeting the perennial east wind, they pass forward progressively, beginning where the rarefaction takes place, and probably continuing to an immense distance, thus forming the north-east monsoon. Again, when the sun crosses the equator in March the S. W. monsoon sets in; and this change or reflux of air appears to be put in motion by the same means as in the north-east mousoon; for as the sun's altitude increases in the northern hemisphere, the extensive body of land in the north-east part of Asia must become much hotter than the ocean, and consequently a considerable degree of rarefaction will be produced over that part of the continent, while an immense body of cold air will rush in from the Indian ocean and continent of Africa to restore the equilibrium, forming the SW, mensoon."

21.

1803.

Sept.

24.

River Hoogly.

99

On account of the intricacy of the navi gation in this place, there is what is called the " pilot service,' in which young men serve a regular limited time, and then rise in rotation up to branch pilots; when they get the command of a schooner, in which they realize, in a few years, a very comfortable independence.

Anchored abreast of Kedgeree, a small village on the western bank of the Hoogly. The river Ganges, like the Nile, long before it approaches the sea, separates into two great branches, which are afterwards subdivided, and enclose a large delta, or triangular space, called the Sunderbunds. The western branch then takes the name of the Hoogly, on whose banks is seated Calcutta, the capital of Bengal, and residence of the governorgeneral; distant from the sea about 90 or 100 miles. Men of war generally lie at Kedgeree, or Diamond Harbour; and at the latter place, which is some 40 or 50 miles below Calcutta, the regular Indiamen always moor, refit, and take in, or discharge their cargoes. Ships, however, of any size, may lie close to the walls of Calcutta; nay, go perhaps an hundred miles above it but they are first obliged to lighten, in order to pass a bar that lies a little above Diamond Harbour. The tides in this river, particularly at full and change, are rapid beyond belief, forming what are called "Boars," or "Bores," when the stream seems as if tumbling down a steep descent, doing great mischief among the boats, by upsetting and running them over each other ships themselves are frequently dragged from their anchors, and dashed furiously against

Kedgeree.

1803.

each other, at these periods. They attempt to account for these torrents, by saying, they de- Sept. pend on the other small rivers that open into the main one, by bars; which, at a certain time of the tide, allow the waters to rush out, all at once, into the grand stream, and thereby so much increase its velocity.

At Kedgeree only one European resides, who has the care of the post-office, and who supplies ships with vegetables, water, and other necessaries. At this place, therefore, we had an ample allowance of all kinds of refreshments for the sick; such as fruits, roots, &c., at the expense of government; 6d. per man per diem being allowed for the number represented by the Surgeon as in need of such vegetables, and that to continue for a fortnight or longer, according to circumstances. We here got pine-apples, plantains, bananas, yams, oranges, cocoa-nuts, limes, shaddocks or pommiloes, guavas, &c., all extremely cheap three or four pine-apples, for instance, cost only an ana, or 2d. English, and the others proportional. Fowls and ducks two rupees, or 5s. per dozen; geese three rupees; or 7s. 6d. ditto: and all other species of stock equally reasonable. The village is small, but the land around it level, and producing great quantities of rice, from the fields being all laid under water at certain seasons of the year,, by the overflowing of the Ganges: hence ships lying here, or in any part of the river indeed, between Calcutta and Saugur, experience great sickness, in the months of July, August, and September, when the great periodical rains take place, and the heats are excessive.

G

Boats on the Hoogly.

1803. There is a wonderful variety of small craft Sept. constantly passing and repassing on this river;

from the elegant budgerow that can accommodate the whole family of an European gentleman, down to the little boat, that serves to land a single person on the banks. They generally rise high abaft, where they have a shed constructed of bamboos, and matted over; here the boatmen eat and sleep: forward they run out into a sharp prow, which glances up from the water very gradually, and of course they are very low at this part. A platform of loose boards serves for a deck, on which the rowers sit, with one leg extended along the deck, and the other bent, with the knee up to the breast. It is astonishing what a length of time these fellows will row without being fatigued: I have known them to pull a boat from Saugur to Calcutta, a distance of nearly one hundred miles, with only a few hours' intermission, and yet seemingly exerting themselves to the utmost every stroke. While passing Saugur island, the fatal spot was pointed out to us, where Mr. Munro was carried off by the tyger in 1792. A bench is formed round the tree where he was sitting at the time this formidable animal sprang upon him, and a small white flag used to be suspended from one of its branches.

This river is very much infested with alligators, especially on the Kedgeree side, where a month seldom passes without some of the natives being devoured by these dreadful creatures. A creek about a mile to the northward of the village, has been the haunt of one, who for many years has rendered himself formidable

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