?PART I.-INTRODUCTORY. CHAPTER I. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF BOMBAY. Section 1. 1. The City of Bombay, the capital of the Bombay Presidency and the principal seaport of Western India, is situated on an island on the shore of the Arabian Sea in 18° 55' N. and 72° 54' E. This island forms one of a group lying off the coast of the Konkan. It is now permanently united to a larger island, Salsette, and the mainland by means of causeways, bridges and break- waters. Originally seven small islands, separated from one another by narrow channels and enclosing a large central lagoon, occupied the site of the present island, as may be seen by reference to map No. II; but gradually these islands were connected by causeways and, embankments and, after the construction of the great Hornby Vellard, the island of Bombay assumed its present form. Since that time a considerable area of foreshore has been reclaimed and a large amount of low-land has been filled in, but even now much of the central portion of the island is below sea level. Reference to map No. III, in which the shaded portion represents land below sea level, will show this. 2. Physically the island consists of a low-lying alluvial plain or shallow valley between two parallel ranges of low broken hills. To the south these two ranges are represented by the respective promontories of Malabar Hill and Colaba Point, which jut into the sea and partly enclose a large shallow expanse of water known as Back Bay. The hills on the island are all small, reaching an elevation a little more than 150 feet. There are no rivers or permanent natural streams ; but as the centre of the island, towards the north, forms a basin shaped depression, it is subject to temporary flooding during the rainy season. 3. The climate of Bombay is warm, equable and humid. The average mean annual temperature is 79.6° Fah., January being the coldest month with an average mean temperature of 73.9° and May the warmest with an average mean temperature of 84.7°. The seasons may be conveniently divided into the wet and the dry. The wet season usually begins in June when the monsoon bursts and continues until the middle or end of October. After the onset of the rains the temperature falls slightly, but remains remarkably uniform, almost within 1° of the mean of the year, until October, when a slight rise occurs. From October the temperature falls gradually until January, after which it rises again to the maximum in May. Table I in the appendix gives the average temperature observed from 1873-1905 and the actuals recorded during 1906-1910. There is no forest or jungle and little natural undergrowth on the island. Up to 1872 more than half the island was under cultivation, large areas being used for rice, plantations of toddy palms and market gardens; but in 1909 only a little over 2,000 acres was cropped, chiefly in the north of the island. Of this area over 800 acres were covered with toddy palms, nearly 500 acres with rice and the remainder was used for market gardens. 4. The average annual rainfall for Bombay is 71.15 inches. The maximum fall recorded in one year is 114.89 and the minimum 33.42. The average number of rainy days in the year is 103. The following table shows the annual rainfall of Bombay for a number of past years:- Year. Inches. Year. Inches. Year. Inches. 1843 ... ... 52.24 1853 ... ... 62.60 1863 ... ... 77.68 1844 ... ... 62.71 1854 ... ... 82.14 1864 ... ... 45.57 1845 ... ... 54.12 1855 ... ... 41.18 1865 ... ... 77.85 1846 ... ... 73.93 1856 ... ... 65.92 1866 ...... 78.44 1847 ... ... 76.00 1857 ... ... 51.27 1867 ... ... 62.30 1848 ... ... 75.86 1858 ... ... 62.45 1868 ... ... 62.12 1849 ... ... 114.89 1859 ... ... 77.16 1869 ... ... 91 66 1850 ... ... 50.25 1860 ... ... 62.15 1870 ... ... 66.21 1851 ... ... 96.07 1861 ... ... 76.31 1871 ... ... 40.58 1852 ... ... 69.27 1862 ... ... 73.63 1872 ... ... 76.48 B 136-1