ndred miles distant, a few days afterwards, instead of
seeking a night punkah we were thankful to have blankets to keep
ourselves warm.

[Sidenote: THE HOT SEASON.]

I have a vivid recollection of my experiences of the climate during my
first year. During our voyage on the Ganges the heat during the day was
like that of a cloudless July in England, and at night it was pleasantly
cool, the wood of the flat speedily giving off the heat it had taken in
during the day, and the flow of the river contributing to our comfort.
Reaching Benares as April was setting in, I speedily felt I was getting
into the experience of an Indian hot season. The doors were opened
before dawn to let in whatever coolness might come with the morning, and
before eight they were shut to keep out the heat of the day. The lower
part of the door was of wood, and the upper part of glass. Outside the
doors were heavy wooden blinds, made after the fashion of Venetian
blinds, the upper part of which were opened to let in from the verandah
the degree of light absolutely necessary with the least possible degree
of heat. No prisoner in his cell is more excluded from an outside view
than we were in our rooms during the day in the hot season. There was a
remarkable contrast between the outside glare and the inside dimness, so
that a person coming from without could not on entering see anything.
The prevailing wind is from the west. There is enough in the morning to
show the direction from which it is coming. It rises as the day
advances; by two or three it blows with great strength, raising clouds
of dust, and lulls towards evening. This wind is cool and bracing in the
cold weather, but as the season advances it becomes warm, and by May its
heat resembles the blast of a furnace. It every now and then gives place
to the east wind, which is not nearly so hot, but is so enervating that
the hot wind is greatly preferred. During the day we sit under the
punkah, a great wooden fan suspended from the roof with great flapping
fringes. This is pulled by a coolie, sometimes in the adjoining room,
but when it can be arranged in the verandah outside, who has in his hand
a rope attached to the punkah, which is brought to him by a small
aperture in the wall, through which a piece of thin bamboo is inserted
to make the friction as little as possible. When the west wind is
blowing freshly, it is brought with most pleasant coolness into the
house through platted screens of sce