These general winds caused by the rarefaction of the atmosphere, are differently combined and modified by different causes in different climates. In that part of the Atlantic, under the temperate zone, the north wind blows almost constantly during the months of October, November, December, and January, which makes those months the most favourable to embark from Europe to India, in order to pass the line by the aid of these winds; and it is known by experience, that ships which quit Europe in the month of March frequently do not arrive sooner at Brazil than those which sail in the October following. The north wind almost continually reigns during winter in Nova Zembla, and other northern coasts. The south wind blows during the month of July at Cape de Verd, when the rainy season, or winter of these climates sets in. At the Cape of Good Hope the north-west wind blows during the month of September. At Patna, in the East Indies, the north-west wind blows during the months of November, December, and January, and produces heavy rains; but the east wind blows during the other nine months. In the Indian ocean, between Africa and India, as far as the Malacca islands, the monsoons reign from east to west from January to the beginning of June, the west winds begin in the months of August or September; during the interval of June and July, there are dreadful tempests generally from the north winds; but on the coasts these winds vary much more than in the open sea. In the kingdom of Guzarat, and on the coasts of the neighbouring sea, the north winds blow from March till September, and during the other months south winds almost always reign. The Dutch, to return from Java, generally set sail in the month of January or February, when they have the assistance of an easterly wind which is felt as far as the 18th degree of South latitude; afterwards they meet with the south winds which carry them to St. Helena[E]. [E] See Varen. Geography, gener. cap. 20. There are regular winds produced by the melting of snows, which the ancient Greeks have noticed. During summer a north-east wind, and in winter one from the south-east, were noticed in Greece, Thrace, Macedonia, the Egean sea, and as far as Egypt and Africa; the same kind of winds have been remarked at Congo, at Guzarat, and at the extremity of Africa, which are all produced by the melting of the snows. The flux and reflux of the sea also produce regular winds which remain only a few hours, and in many places winds are observed to blow from the land during night, and from the sea during the day, as on the coasts of New Spain, Congo, the Havannah, &c. The north winds are pretty regular in the polar circles; but the nearer we approach the equator, the weaker they become: a circumstance equally common to the two poles.