352

INDIA

direction. In the southern parts of Ceylon it appears to
rain incessantly for eight months in the year from [une
to January.
As might be expected, the monsoon winds exercise a
direct influence on the surface currents of the ocean
surrounding India, these currents generally following the
direction of the wind, and varying in intensity with the
strength of the monsoon. The tidal action is regular
under ordinary conditions of wind and weather. A very
comprehensive system of tidal observations has been
initiated by Government, and tidal stations have been
established at important points all round the coast. The
results of a scientific analysis of these investigations as
a whole will be most interesting when completed.
Cyclonic disturbances in the Bay of Bengal cause
tidal waves which are most disastrous in their effects on
the low-lying delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra
rivers, and cause periodically enormous destruction of
life and property. Mercifully they are rare.
The effects of the periodic and regular action of the
south-west monsoon on the western outlines of the coast
are very marked at certain points, where the sea encroachment
 can be readily measured. The temple of Dwarka,
for instance, on the coast-line between Karachi and
Bombay, is now perilously near the sea. Already some
outlying portions of it have disappeared, and it is said
that these can be seen at low water. The temple not
long ago stood far inland. Farther north we have a
somewhat difficult and unsatisfactory means of comparison
 between the shape of the coast outline in modern
days and that which existed several centuries before the
Christian era, between thc mouth of the Indus and the
Persian Gulf. The Greek galleys of Nearkhos (Alexander's
admiral of the fleet) necessarily followed the coast-line
when making their slow way from India to Persia,
because they were more or less dependent on the land
forces for their supplies ; and the details of the voyage are
given in his ancient log from day to day. It is almost
impossible to restore an exact outline of the coast of these