Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 21.4

21.4

Nor is it surprising that the rains come from different quarters; that on the coast of Koromandel, for example, they come from the south, and on the Malabar coast from the west; because it is apparently the nearest sea which sends the rain; and the sea nearest the Koromandel coast, and to which it is more immediately exposed, lies to the south; as the sea which washes the coast of Malabar is to the west, extending itself towards Bab-el-mandel, Arabia, and the Persian Gulf. I have imagined, in fine, that although we see at Dehli the rainy clouds come from the east, yet their origin may be in the seas which lie to the south of that city: and being intercepted by some mountains or lands whose atmosphere is colder, more condensed and resisting, they are forced to turn aside and discharge themselves in a country where the air is more rarefied, and which consequently offers less resistance.