The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-27
RAINS AT cHERRAPoONJEE.
Remarkable Record of the Wettest
spot on Earth.
From the Pan Mall Gazette.

From the Pail Mall Gazette.
Most of US have not troubled to study
the details of the rainfall Of our own
Islands, being content to accept the popu-
lar belief that ours is the wettest climate
in the world, because our Old friend, the
Gulf stream, brings us a never-ceasing
supply from the ocean to the west of us.
Taking a series of years the average
rainfall over The United Kingdom ranges
from 20 inches 10 % inches in the south
eastern counties of England to from %
inches TO 50 inches in the mountainous
districts on the western coasts. London is
average is % inches. rarely as low as 20
inches, or as much as 30 inches in any one
year, while falls of as much as an inch
within twenty-four hours are but seldom
recorded. During the first five and half
months of this year, down to the middle
of June Cherra had received the mere
bagatella of 2G7,s 81 inches of rain, so that,
clearly, we ought to deal with the volume
IN feet or in yards rather than in inches.
Within the limits of a single week The ag-
gregata fall was 1873 inches, while on two
successive days the gauge registered 1913
| inches, or more in forty-eight hours than
has ever been known 10 fall in London in
a whole tWelVe-montE.
If we look at map of the Indian En-
| pire we see the fuHhA shaped Bay of Ben
| gal leading to the extensive loW-lying
| tracts of the Gangetic Soonderbuns and
| the Jhils of Sylhet, so that Assam IS
reached before an elevat ion Of 100 feet
above the sea level is attained. Suddenly
the Khasia hills or rather mountains, in
| the southwest of Assam rise abruptly
| from this great plain. Beetling cliffs tower
above the plains of Cachar to an elevation
| of thousands of feet, the escarpment fac
| ing The south toward the Bay of Bengal
in the far distance. At an elevation of
| about :, 900 feet there is, facing southeast
| a deep gorge with precipitous sides and it
| terminates in a sheer wall Of rock rising up
| straight another couple Of thousand feet
| AT the top of this terrible cliff, at an eleva-
| ton of 400 feet above the level of the
sea, is a small plain, on which stands the
| little station of Cherrapoonjee, close to
| the edge of the precipice.
| Cherra Is not a wet spot all the year
| round Like the rest of the Indian En-
| pire il has its dry and wet seasons, the
| former under the northeast monsoon (tne
| wind from the interior Of Asia), The later
under the southwest monsoon Che wind
| from the Indian ocean,. During the four
| months November to February, when the
land breeze prevails. very little rain is eX-
| perienced, less than London receives in the
| same period, but with March comes a
| marked increase HI the ld4lS anu II az
| tains its maximum in June and July, when
| the southwest monsoon is fully established,
| afterward decreasing again. The average
| annual fall is about 800 inches, to which
the four dry months contribute In all tVe
| inches, and the two wettest months 200
| inches. At the wettest spot in the British
| Isles, the STYLE, near Seathwaite, In the
| Cumberland hills, the rainfall for the year
| averages as much as 1874 inches, but Cher
ra's average for the month Of July alone
| exceeds 1870 inches.
| The explanation lies in the situation OF
! Cherra with regard to the rain-bearing
winds The Bay of Bengal is a vast caul-
dron of warm water perpetually throw
| ing off immense volumes of moisture. To
| the northWard the SoondeTbuns and Jhils,
\ loW-lying swamps covered by flood waters
during the midsummer months, supply as
| much moisture as the bay. 1t is over
| these immense areas of aqueous vapor that
| the southwest monsoon sweeps, carrying
| inland the precious liquid which is poured
down on the country in such a lavish
manner Even at sea level or Whereabouts
the copiousness of the rain may be gath
cred from the fact that 1t averages about
| 100 inches annually, but Cherra gets five
times as much as the plains. while places
on the little plain within half a mile of
Cherra, but not so exposed, return from
seventy inches to 100 inches a year less
! When the southwest monsoon strikes the
race OF the great cliffs of the Khasia hills
1t is already supersaturated with the
moisture collected farther south, and as il
cannot continue on its course at a low
level, 1t is forced to ascend to the TOP of
the range and it is this sudden ascensional
movement that brings about the DISCHARGE
OF such stupendous torrents of rain on the
summit.
Now, as to the marvellous records az
Cherra. AS already stated the average an
nual precipitation there may be taken as
800 inches, but in 1851 the total was 591
inches. in 1860 it was Cos inches. or more
than twenty-five yards, against London's
paltry twenty-five inches. Back in 1871
Yu.e measured 264 inches for the month
OF August alone, five consecutive davs
contributing $50 inches TO the total. July.
1865, had POS inches. and the some month
In 1861 no less than S66 inches or more
than thirty feet. Hooker mentions thirty
inches in one day, and 800 inches during
a stay of seven months. Over as long a
period as five days rainfals ct Cherra 1T
a rate of an inch or more per hour For
shorter periods the rates are much greater.
fourteen inches in seven hours. seventeen
inches in six hours eighty-five inches In
eighteen hours and so on The 40.8 inches
on June II, 1876 appears to have been the
largest amount of any one day a Cherra
No wonder with so much dampness, that
the locality teens with leeches. Not
withstanding the huge rainfall, the spot Ia
considered fairly healthy one, for nj
most as rapidly as 1t falls the water flows