On the Indian Hills

AT last the hot weather ended, and the ragged grey clouds, which had been hurrying over the sky like the skirmishers of a vast army, banked themselves up and flooded the thirsty land. The first few heavy drops fell one day while L--- and I were smoking in my verandah, but they were only the forerunners of the great downpour, though they made the withered leaves on the ground hop and rustle, and frightened the lizards horribly before they stopped, leaving the air full of a wonderfully fragrant smell, as of wet wine-coolers.

But the monsoon burst that night in serious earnest. It was impossible to get to sleep -- the air was very dense and hot, and the mosquitoes were busy and furious in every direction. Up to eleven o'clock there was a profound hush outside, and I was almost asleep, when there came a blinding flash of lightning, and immediately afterwards a loud peal of thunder, and the wind crept up from the valley and began to rock the tree-tops. Then down came the rain in continuous sheets, followed by white lightning which enabled me to catch glimpses of the path and hillside streaming with water, the tree-trunks shining as though they were carved out of silver, and everything far and near dripping and hanging down limp under the tropical midnight downpour. I sat wondering what the monkeys were doing outside, and all the dry-weather creatures, but soon found that charity begins at home, and that it was quite unnecessary to pride myself on being safe under shelter. The thatch of my roof had been put on early in the year, and during the dry weather it had shrunk considerably, so that, instead of forming a compact mass, as old thatch should, it was more like fresh straw loosely laid down. Consequently, when the rain began to descend in earnest, it found its way through into my sleeping compartment with very little difficulty.

I was sitting up in my charpoy listening to the howling of the wind, by this time blowing a regular hurricane, and watching the bright long forks of lightning playing about the tree-tops, when I was suddenly aware of a little trickle of water running down my back, and then another and another rivulet developing. It was necessary to act promptly; so, springing up, I rolled all the bed-things into a mass, and covered them with a waterproof. Then, opening an umbrella, I sat on top in my flannel sleeping-suit, and calmly watched my property being flooded. It was a profoundly uncomfortable night, and my position was both cold and ridiculous. The rain came in everywhere, and soon everything was afloat, while as fast as I lit lamp after lamp, the rain-water put them out and left me in darkness. When the roof of your house plays you false, it is hopeless to contend against the elements. I made two or three attempts, and found a little shelter for some of my best books under the dining table, but the greater part of my belongings were soon hopelessly saturated. My bed was also converted into a sort of tent, more or less dry, by crossing cords from the four posts and throwing coats and shawls over them. Into this harbor of refuge I crept, and watched the water coming down the walls and descending in cascades from the roof, for there was no sleep for me. The tempest howled overhead, and the trees rocked and groaned, until every moment I expected one to come crashing through the roof of my deluged hut. Indeed, a great trunk did fall a little higher up the ridge, and I could feel the concussion, so near was it. Then another matter kept me awake. My hut, like every house in India, was a great harborage for all sorts of strange creatures in the insect way, besides bats, snakes, rats, lizards, and so on. All these creatures were flooded out of my walls and roofs, and wandered aimlessly about the furniture and floor. Such a chance was not to be lost, and, careless of being wetted through and through, every now and then I emerged from under the shelter of my tent to secure and box a strange centipede, or give chase to a big spider, or to paddle about with bare feet after a lizard which looked something out of the ordinary. In this way I made some considerable additions to my collection that night, and with the exception of being wet through all the time, with no chance of sleeping, I was not so desperate as may be supposed. Nevertheless, I felt glad when dawn broke and daylight made it possible to move about freely, and, finally, a good breakfast with plenty of hot coffee set me up again.