[CHAPTER II.]
VOYAGE TO SAIGON.—ARRIVAL IN COCHIN CHINA.
The voyage from Hong-kong to Saigon was neither long nor unpleasant. The weather was fine, and the wind favored the progress of the steamer. The Doctor explained that the north-east monsoon was blowing at that season of the year, and it was to be relied on with such certainty that the steamship companies arranged their time-tables with reference to it. The boys had heard something about the monsoons before this, and Fred determined that he would study the subject sufficiently to have a clear understanding of it. So he questioned the Doctor, and examined all the books he could find that had anything to say about the monsoons, and when he thought his information was complete he proceeded to put it on paper.
HURRICANE DURING THE CHANGE OF THE MONSOON.
Here is Fred's essay on the winds of the Eastern seas:
"The word 'monsoon' comes from the Arabic musim, which means 'season,' and the winds are so called because they blow in alternate seasons, first in one direction and then in the other. On the coast of China the wind is from the south-west from April to October, and is then called the south-west monsoon; for the other half of the year it blows from the north-east, and is then called the north-east monsoon. There is generally a period of about two weeks when the winds are irregular at each change from one monsoon to the other, and at this time the ship-masters are very fearful of severe storms, with heavy rain and much thunder and lightning.