In the third zone, that of Bengal, the cold weather is short, but even in Calcutta there are two months during which ordinary European clothing becomes desirable. There is a short hot weather, relieved by a rainy period, the “chota barsât,” about Easter, but the heat never approaches that of the western part of the continental triangle. The rainfall is extremely heavy towards the east, as in Assam, so that extensive floods are common, and malaria necessarily very common and often serious.

In the northern part of the peninsular triangle we find the same tendency to dryness in the west and moisture in the east, Khathiawar and Surat having but moderate rainfalls, while that of Orissa is very heavy; but in neither is either the fierce heat or bracing cold weather of the northern triangle to be met with.

Between the two lie the “Central” Provinces, which, apart from some favoured spots, such as Saugor and Chindwara, which have an elevation of over 2,000 feet, undoubtedly possess one of the vilest climates in India, or in the world. The hot, dry weather is severe and prolonged, and towards the burst of the monsoon is combined with a moist atmosphere without any alleviation of the heat. The writer has personally verified in the Nerbudah valley a temperature of 105° F. (40·6° C.) at 4.30 a.m. in the open, the observation being taken carefully with a swung Kew thermometer.

The so-called cold weather lasts barely two months, and the only time of the year that by any stretch of politeness can be said to be pleasant, is that of the rains, which probably rather by force of contrast than by virtue of any real superiority to the same season elsewhere, includes days when the air seems really refreshing.

The entire coast and the greater part of the surface of the southern portion of the peninsula have a warm, equable climate with a considerable rainfall. Portions of Haidrababad and Mysore, in the plateau of the Deccan, approach continental conditions, being somewhat dry and arid, and occasionally visited by droughts, but the climate of the greater part of the country is profoundly influenced by its proximity to the great oceans that wash its coasts. In this inland plateau the distribution of the rainfall has the further peculiarity of being much later than elsewhere, the rainiest month in Mysore being not July, as in most other localities throughout India, but November: this corresponds to the second rainy season, the first rainy season being represented by a somewhat smaller maximum in August. There is no very marked difference between the climates of the eastern and western coasts, though as will be seen on comparing the figures for Chochin and Madras in the subjoined table, the monthly rainfall is somewhat differently distributed.

These climatic conditions are naturally found in their most typical form on the island of Ceylon, the climatic data of which are epitomised in the above table for the capital of the island, Colombo, which is situated on the western coast.

The total rainfall is about 88 ins. (2,237 mm.), and the mean annual temperature 80° F. (26·7 C.).

The bursting of the south-west monsoon, which is one of the main factors in determining the sequence of seasons in India, takes place in Ceylon in the latter half of May, and gradually creeps northward, reaching Bombay early in June, and finding its way inland in the latter half of that month. Traditionally, the 15th June is the date for the advent of the rains in Northern India, but it is rarely that the hopes of the anxious denizens of the broiling plains are fulfilled by its appearance at so early a date, and the end of the month probably more nearly approaches the average. On rare occasions the rain may not come till the 15th July, and the last month of waiting in such years is always a time of much tedium and suffering, as the absence of precipitation does not prevent the air from becoming saturated with moisture, which, combined with unabated high temperature, renders the lives of all subjected to it barely tolerable.

India is fortunately well provided with hill-stations, Bombay being the only presidency which is badly off in this respect. There the two or three health resorts reach an elevation of no more than from 4,000 to 5,000 ft., and are practically utilised only during the hot, dry season preceding the burst of the monsoon. Once the rains are established the health-seeker has to leave these stations for Poona, a large station on the summit of the western ghauts, where, thanks to the pleasant sea-breeze, the climate during the rains, if rather too warm for choice, is on the whole very pleasant.

Madras possesses excellent sanatoria in the Nihilgerris, the principal hill-station of Ootacamand, at an elevation of over 6,000 ft., being in many respects the best of the Indian hill-stations. Owing to its southerly position it enjoys an admirable climate all the year round, and unlike the Himalayan stations, which are perched on steep spurs and peaks, is situated on a wide, rolling table-land, so that it is possible to drive about in ordinary carriages, and even to follow the hounds, though, it must be confessed, the hunting is much more like that to be got with the Dartmoor hounds than in “the Shires.”