Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/95

 intensity during April May and June. The rains generally begin about the 20th June, and end with September. The 20th October may be taken as the beginning of the cold weather.

The best season to arrive in India is December, January and February, and it is desirable not to enter the country before the 15th November, nor after the 15th March. Of course, circumstances will oblige many to arrive at all seasons, but the hot season is a very fiery ordeal to a newcomer, and to be avoided.

In Calcutta during April, May, and June, the thermometer is seldom under 86° at any hour, and in the afternoon is as high as 90° or 100° in-doors, and 120° or 130° in the sun. During the day this is found very oppressive, but a fine sea-breeze generally sits in about eight o'clock in the evening, and blows cool and refreshing all night. 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.

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