Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1860-04-12
THURSDAY, APRIL II, 1860.
MISCELLANEOUS
The Monsoon in Ceylon.

OAie'ilA0u py INC great event OF
the change of the monsoon, and all the
grand phenomena which accompany its 40.
proach,
1t Is difficult for one who has not resid-
ed IN the tTopic to comprehend the feelino
Of enjoyment which accompanies these
periodical connections Of the atmosphere
IN Europe they would be fraught with an
noyance, but in Ceylon they are welcomed
with a relish proportionate to the monoto.
ny they dispel. Long before the wished
for period arrives, the verdure produced bv
the previous rains becomes obiterated by
the burning droughts Of March and April,
The declduous trees shed forth their fol.
Ia9e, the plants cease to put forth fresh
leaves, and all vegetable life languishes un-
der the unwholesome heat. The grass
withers on the baked and cloven earth. and
red dust settles on the branches and thjrs-
| ty brushwood The insects, deprived of
their accus toned food, disappear under
! ground, or hide beneath the decayine bark.
! the water-beetles bury themselves in the
hardened mud OF poUis, and the heltlcs re-
tire into the creyices Of the stones or the
hollows, amongst the roots of the trees,
closing the appcrtures Of their shells with
the ALTERNATING epipragm. Butterflies are
no longer seen hoVering over the flowers;
the birds appear fewer and less Joyous; and
the wild animals and crocodlcs, driven by
the drought from their accustomed retreats.
wander through the jungle, and even ven
ture to approach the village wells in search
OF water. Man equally lanouishes under
the general exhaustion; ordinary exertion
becomes distasteful, and the native Singha-
Iesc, although Injured to the climate, move
with lassitude and reluctance.
Meanwhile the air becomes loaded to satur-
alton with aqueous yapor drawn on by the
augmented force of evaporation, acting viz
orously over land and sea; the sky, instead
OF It's brilliant hue, assumes the sullen tint
OF lead, and not breath disturbs the mo.
tlonless rest Of the clouds that hang on
the lower range of hills. At length, gen
orally about the middle of the month. but
frequently earlier, the sultry suspense is
broken by the arrival Of the wished-for
change. The sun has by this time nearly
attained the greatest northern declination,
and created a torrid heat throughout the |
lands of southern Asia and the peninsula
Of India. The air, lighted by this high
temperature and such watery yapour as it |
may contain, rises into loitier regions, and |
is replaced by indraughts from the neigh |
boring sea, and thus tendency is gradual |
ly given to the formation of a current bring |
ing up from the south the warm humid air !
Of the equator. The wind, therefore,
which reaches Ceylon, comes laden with
moisture, taken up in its passage across the
great Indian Ocean. As the monsoon !
draws near, the days become more over
east and hot, banks Of clouds rise over the |
ocean to the west, and, in the peculiar twi-
light the eye is attracted by the unusual
whiteness Of the sea- birds that sweep along
the strand to seize the objects flung on the
shore by the rising surf
At last the sudden lightnings fash
among the hills and shoot through the
clouds that overhang the sea, and with
crash of thunder the monsoon bursts over
the thirsty land, not in showers or partial
torrents, but in wild deluge, that in the
course Of a few hours oyertops the river
banks, and spreads in inundations over ev-
cry level plain.
All the phenomena Of this explosion are
thunder as we are accustomed
to be awed by it in Europe, affords but the
faintest idea of its oyerpowering grandeur
in Ceylon; and its sublimity is infinitely
as it is family heard from the
shore, resounding through night and dark
ness over the gloomy sea The lightning,
when it touches the earth, where it is cov-
cred with the descending torrent, flashes in
to it, and disappears instantaneously but,
when it strikes drier surface, in seeking
better conductors, it often opens a hollow
like that formed by the explosion of shell,
md frequently leaves behind it traces Of
Vitritication. In Ceylon, however, occur
rences of this kind are rare and accidents
are seldom recorded from lightning, pro-
oably owing to the profusion of trees, and
especially of cocoa-nut palms which, when
irenched with rain, intercept the discharge,
md conduct the electric matter to the earth.
The rain at these periods excites the aston
shment OF European it descends in al
most continuous streams, so close and so
lense, that the level ground, unable to alb
orb it sufficiently fast, is covered with one
inform sheet of water, and down the sides
If activities it rushes in volume that
years channels in the surface For hours
Ogether, the noise of the torrent, as it [
'eats upon the trees, and bursts upon the
oots, flowing thence into rivulets along the I
ground, occasions an uproar that browns the
ordinary voice, and renders sleep impossi-
lie. {