moisture which blows steadily for two months toward the northwest and causes what is called the rainy season.  That wind is called the southwest monsoon.  The quantity of rain that falls depends upon the configuration of the land.  Any cause which cools the winds from the sea and leads to the condensation of the vapor they carry—­any obstacle which blocks their course—­causes precipitation.  Through all the northern part of India there is a heavy rainfall during April, May and June, the earth is refreshed and quantities of water are drained into reservoirs called “tanks,” from which the fields are irrigated later in the summer.

The quantity of rainfall diminishes as the winds blow over the foothills and the mountains, and the enormous heights of the Himalayas prevent them from passing their snow-clad peaks and ridges.  Hence the tablelands of Thibet, which lie beyond, are the dryest and the most arid region in the world.

As the sun travels south after midsummer the temperature falls, the vast dry tract of the Asiatic continent becomes colder, the barometric pressure over the land increases, and the winds begin to blow from the northeast, which are called the northeast monsoon, and cause a second rainy season from October to December.  These winds, or monsoons, enable the farmers of India to grow two crops, and they are entirely dependent upon their regular appearance.

Over 80 per cent of the population are engaged in farming.  They live from hand to mouth.  They have no reserve whatever.  If the monsoon fails nothing will grow, and they have no money to import food for themselves and their cattle from more fortunate sections.  Hence they are helpless.  As a rule the monsoons are very reliable, but every few years they fail, and a famine results.  The government has a meteorological department, with observers stationed at several points in Africa and Arabia and in the islands of the sea, to record and report the actions of nature.  Thus it has been able of late years to anticipate the fat and the lean harvests.  It is possible to predict almost precisely several months in advance whether there will be a failure of crops, and a permanent famine commission has been organized to prepare measures of relief before they are needed.  In other words, Lord Curzon and his official associates are reducing famine relief to a system which promotes economy as well as efficiency.

It is an interesting fact that the monsoon currents which cross the Indian Ocean from South Africa continue on their course through Australia after visiting India, and recent famines in the latter country have coincided with the droughts which caused much injury to stock in the former.  Thus it has been demonstrated that both countries depend upon the same conditions for their rainfall, except that human beings suffer in India while only sheep die of hunger in the Australian colonies.