A veiw of the Monsoon from the heights of the Agasthya Peak

by Mr. J. Allen Broun, F.R.S., the second director of the Trivandrum Observatory

The following is picturesque description of the setting in of the monsoon in Travancore by Mr. J. Allen Broun, F.R.S., the second director of the Trivandrum Observatory, quoted in the Travancore State Manual. This could be from the period 1850-60.

There is no place in India where the magnificent phenomena which precedes the bursting of the monsoon can be seen and studied with more ease than on the Augustia Peak. For a month or more before the final crash of the tempest, the whole operations of the great atmospheric laboratory are developed at our feet, while the summit of the mountain itself is rarely visited by the storms which rage over its western flanks. In the morning chains of finely formed cumuli seem to rest over the sea horizons of Malabar and Coromandel. Frequently it is evident that what appears a serried file of could masses is only cumuli irregularly distributed over the country; their shadows, projected near noon, spot and chequer the plains and the undulating country below from sea to mountain. Early in the morning the vapours begin to rise near the western precipices; the cloud accumulates and seeks to pass by the lowest cols into the eastern valley; it seems opposed by a repulsive influence, for no breath of air is felt; it ascends at last, afternoon, in mighty masses crowned with cirrus clouds which spread eastwards like an immense parasol over our heads. Then the lightning begins to play, darting in varied and ramiform circuits from could to could; the thunder rolls is heard drenching the forests below. After an hour, or several hours, according to the distance from the monsoon, the clouds quit the mountains, move more westwards, and then disappear; the sun shines out again over the western sea, assuming before setting the most fantastic forms; the stars sparkle in all their beauty, and the morning again appears with its chains of clouds on the horizon. As the time for the monsoon draws near, the cloud masses seek with more and more energy to pass the mountains eastwards; sometimes two such masses present themselves, one creeping up an eastern valley, the other entering the col from the west. Nothing can be more interesting than to watch this combat of the vapours. on by a giant force, — rise to the tops of the mountains, and pour over their walls into the eastern hollows, like the steam from a great caldron; they pluge first downwards Niagaras of clouds and then as they curl upwards, they disappear, absorbed in the hotter eastern air. The storm, with deluges of rain, sweeps over the mountain, and the monsoon reigns over the low lands of Malabar.”