viz. from the middle of March to the same period in May, the thermometer was from 85 to 95. The hot winds began in March, and became hotter in April. Towards

the latter end of March, the violent winds, called the north-westers, commence; and during this season the atmosphere is very often lowering, but the rain is seldom heavy, except during the storm.

In the hot season, viz. from the middle of May to that period in July, the thermometer, in May, ascended from 85 to 93, 94, and even to 99, and, in the former part of June, from 95 to 98. During these months, the heat is often very oppressive; the body is in a state of continual perspiration, even in the shade, and two or three changes of linen are sometimes necessary in the course of the day.

In the wet season, viz. from the middle of July to the same period in September, the author found the thermometer, upon an average, to be from 85 to 90. From this it will be seen, that the rains have a considerable effect upon the air, so as to sink the thermometer eight or ten degrees, yet in this season the want of air becomes very oppressive.

In what the natives call the surud, or sultry season,

P In order to cool the hot wind on its entrance into the house, Europeans These tatees place what are called tatees in the windows and door-ways. are made of the fragrant roots of the andropogon muricata, (kŭs-kŭs) spread and fastened upon a frame the size of the window or door, and laticed with split bamboos. The wind easily penetrates these tatees, which are kept wet by a servant's throwing water upon them; and thus the wind, as it enters the room, is most agreeably cooled, and by this contrivance, even in the hot winds, the heat in rooms becomes more tolerable than in times when the atmosphere is close and sultry.

viz. from the middle of September to the same period in November, the thermometer appears to have stood, upon an average, at from 86 to 90.

The rains seldom end before the middle of October, except the season be very dry. Were it not that the rains have such an important effect upon the productions of the earth, and did they not so agreeably change the face of nature, people would wish them at an end long before the season expires. In the rains, every thing grows mouldy, the white ants multiply into myriads, and devour all before them; it is difficult to preserve woollen clothes, and a thousand other things from decay.

In September and in the beginning of October the natives die in great numbers. Three fourths of those who die during the whole year, it is said, die in July, August, September, and October.

Some Europeans are more healthful at one period of the year, and some at another, but the longer a person stays in India, the more he is affected by the cold. A simple and light diet, a tranquil mind, caution against sudden changes in the air, and moderate exercise, seem to be the most necessary things in Bengal to preserve health.

The cold is scarcely ever so great as to produce ice, except in the northern parts. Yet many poor, for want of clothing, suffer much in the cold season, and numbers of cattle perish through cold and want of food. The natives complain much more of the cold than of the heat; and yet the heat is sometimes so intense, that even native travellers are struck dead by it. The storms of wind and

rain are frequently tremendous, tearing up trees, overturning houses, &c.; and in the wet season, at times, the rain descends in sheets rather than in drops, so that in less than twenty-four hours a whole district is overflowed.

The hot winds are trying, especially in the upper provinces, though some Europeans are very healthful at this season. Through what is called the prickly heat, the bodies of multitudes, especially new-comers, are almost covered with pimples, which prick like thorns. Exposure to the sun very often brings on bilious fevers; boils are also very common during the hot season. I have sometimes wondered that the rheumatism should be so prevalent in Bengal, but I suppose it is owing to the heat leaving the body in so unfit a state to bear the chills of the night air; still the fishermen, exposed to the blazing sun through the day, sleep without apparent harm in the open' air on their boats all night, almost without any covering: it is common too for multitudes of the natives to sleep under trees, and even in the open air by the side of their shops or houses. In this respect, we see that the body is whatever habit makes it: he who sleeps on a stone or a a board, is as much refreshed as the man who lies on a feather-bed; and he who sleeps on his open boat, or in a damp place in the open street, with a rag for a coverlid, sleeps as soundly as the man who shuts up his room for fear of the night-dews, and creeps under a thick coverlid, tucking the curtains round him. Many poor natives

Gauze, or what are called musquitoe curtains, are absolutely necessary in this country, these insects being peculiarly troublesome. Millions upon millions infest the houses in Calcutta, where even a plough-boy would in vain seek rest unless protected by curtains. Possessing this advantage, a person will scarcely be able to sleep; for these troublesome guests haunt the bed, hang on the curtains, and excite in the person, half asleep, the fear VOL. III.

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sleep in places, where, if some people were to set their feet they would receive cold. Almost on the soft earth, with a single cloth for their covering, multitudes may be seen every night lying by the side of the street in Calcutta. One night's lodging of this kind would, in all probability, hurry a European to his grave.

Were I disposed to pursue a contrast between the climate of Bengal and that of England, it would be easy to turn the scale on either side. For instance, it might be said, that in Bengal nature always appears in an extravagant mood. In the rainy season, during several months, the rains descend in torrents, inundate the plains, and by giving an amazing stimulus to vegetation, transform the whole country into a wilderness. In the summer, the beams of the sun smite to death the weary traveller, and burn the earth to a cinder. When the winds blow, they either scorch you, or rise into an infuriated tempest,

that they are coming to attack him in a body, like a pack of blood-hounds. Their proboscis is very long; and, as soon as it enters the flesh, it pricks very sharply; and if not driven away, the musquitoe fills himself with blood till it shines through his skin. If he be perceived when thus distended with blood, he becomes an easy prey, but if you smite him, your clothes will be covered with blood. The natives are less disturbed by these insects, as they give their skin a coating of oil; but Europeans just arrived are a delicious repast, and it often happens, that they are so covered with musquitoe bites, that it would be thought they had caught the measles. When a person is very irritable, he scratches his arms, legs, &c. till they become full of wounds, and he thus inflicts on himself still greater torments. A curious scene is exhibited when a European is disappointed in obtaining curtains: he lies down, and begins to be sleepy perhaps, when the musquitoes buz about his ear, and threaten to lance him. While he drives them from his ears and nose, two or three sit on his feet, and draw his blood; while he is aiming his blows at those on his feet, others again seize his nose, and whatever part assumes the resting posture, that part becomes a prey to the musquitoes, who never give up the contest till they have sucked to the full; and can never be kept off, but by the person's sitting up, and fighting with them all night,

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hurling to destruction the tall pines, and the lowly dwellings of the cottagers; and even the cold of Bengal was well described by an honest Scotchman, "I can bear the chilling blasts of Caledonia, but this-this cold, I know not what to do with it." I might add, that in Bengal the flowers are not so sweet, the birds do not sing so charmingly, the gardens are not so productive, the fruit is not so various and delicious, nor are the meadows so green as in England.

On the other hand, it might be urged, that in Bengal we have none of the long and dreadful frosts, killing every vegetable, as in England; none of that sleety, dripping, rainy weather that is experienced there, so that in a sense it rains in England all the year round, while in Bengal the sky is clear the greater part of the year. In England the days are so gloomy, that multitudes sink into a despondency which terminates in insanity, and many die by their own hands; there the harvest is often destroyed by bad weather, or fails for want of sun. In England, many perish in the snow, and with the cold; your fingers ache, and your back is chilled, even by the fire-side, and multitudes die of colds, consumptions, asthmas, and many other diseases, the effects of the climate.

Now, by softening down the disadvanges, and bringing forward the favourable circumstances, on either side, how easy would it be to mislead a person who had not seen both countries. If a fair and just comparison be formed between England and Bengal, as it respects climate, I should think England ought to have the preference, but not in the degree that some persons imagine;

If the following extraordinary assertion of Forster, in his notes to