"Going to Madras in March, the temperature of the place is of no
consequence to you, except as a matter of curiosity, being in the Torrid
Zone. It will be from 76 deg. to 88 deg. while you are here. The average
temperature for the year is 82 deg.; in the hot months it rises to over 100 deg.;
the highest in twenty-seven years was 113 deg., and the lowest 57.6 deg.. A
sea-breeze often sets in about noon, lasting till sunset, greatly modifying
the heat. I think I need say no more about the city till we get there."
This talk was followed by a concert by the band. The ship sped on her
course, though something to instruct and amuse was going on all the time.
At the time set Madras was in sight, and a little later the surf was seen
rolling in on the shore. The depth is shallow near the land, which causes
the water to break. The Guardian-Mother was anchored in the deep water, and
Lord Tremlyn invited the party to proceed to the apartments at the Royal
Hotel which he had bespoken for them. The commander made no further
objections to the matter of expense, and the invitation was promptly
accepted. A number of the masulah-boats, not the rafts, were engaged to
land them. They were much like any other boat, though they were paddled,
and not rowed. They saw the catamarans, constructed as the Hindu gentleman
had described, paddled on the waves by a single man, wearing a sugar-loaf
hat.
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