“Where did the people come from who inhabited these islands, papa?”
“That is difficult to say, William; but it is supposed that they have become inhabited in much the same way as this our island has been—that is, by people in canoes or boats driven out to sea, and saving their lives by effecting a landing, as we have done.”
“I believe that’s the truth,” replied Ready; “I heard say that the Andaman Isles were supposed to have been first inhabited by a slaver full of negroes, who were wrecked on the coast in a typhoon.”
“What is a typhoon, Ready?”
“It is much the same as a hurricane, William; it comes on in India at the change of the monsoons.”
“But what are monsoons?”
“Winds that blow regular from one quarter so many months during the year, and then change round and blow from another just as long.”
“And what are the trade-winds, which I heard poor Captain Osborn talking about after we left Madeira?”
“The trade-winds blow on the equator, and several degrees north and south of it, from the east to the west, following the course of the sun.”
“Is it the sun which produces these winds?”