'Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde; accompanied by a geographical and historical account of those countries, with a map.' [‎320] (362/476)

320
HISTORY OF BELOOCHISTAN.
to it, the months of September and October are showery, and indeed,
the whole of the cold season is more or less so, four or five days
seldom passing without either sleet or rain, save, during frosty
weather, when the air is keen and bracing. The salubrity of these
provinces appears to be regulated by the seasons; the summer and
autumn are said to be delightful, but in winter and spring, fogs, rain,
snow, and cold, are the origin of many diseases among the poorer
classes, who have not means of protecting themselves against the
effects of a climate that is equally fluctuating, and more severe, than
that of England.
In Mukran and Lus the seasons are likewise four in number, but
they are not to be distinguished like those of the province just
named, as they consist of two wet, one hot, and one cold one,
the latter of which is very moderate, especially on the sea-coast.
The wet seasons are in February or March, and June, July, and a
part of August; the former comes from the north-west, and only
continues for a fortnight or three weeks, but the latter comprises all
the fury of the south-west monsoon. The hot season begins in
March, and lasts till October, (the south-west monsoon intervening,)
and in it, occasionally, the heats are so excessive as to prevent, even,
the inhabitants from venturing abroad during the days called the
" Khoormu Puz" or date ripening, which take place in August.
The months of November, December, January, and February, are
looked upon as the cold season, but even then it is much warmer
than at any period of the year in the upper parts of Jhalawan and
Sarawan ; * north-west winds prevail at this time, and are particularly
strong towards the close of the cold weather; during the remaining
eight months the hot winds blow continually, inland, and though
* Wherever two provinces lie contiguous to each other, as Jhalawan and Lus, it
necessarily results, that they must in some degree partake of the advantages and disad
vantages of climate which prevail in each. Thus, the southern districts of Jhalawan are
not so cold as Kelat, and the part of Lus, adjoining them, is much colder in winter than
the sea-coast.