The Swiss retain their old fondness for rifle-shooting, and there is annually a grand rifle match at some of the large towns, made up of the best marksmen in all Switzerland. There are also yearly contests in wrestling, called _Zwing Feste_, the most distinguished wrestlers at which are from Unterwalden, Appenzel, and Berne. MONSOONS. These are periodical winds which blow over the Indian Ocean, between Africa and Hindustan for nearly six months from the north-east, and during an equal period from the south-west. The region of the monsoons lies a little to the north of the northern border of the trade-winds, and they blow with the greatest force and with most regularity between the eastern coast of Africa and Hindustan. When the sun is in the southern hemisphere a north-east wind, and when it is in the northern hemisphere, a south-west wind blows over this sea. The north-east monsoon blows from November to March. It extends one or two degrees south of the equator. It becomes regular near the coasts of Africa sooner than in the middle of the sea, and near the equator sooner than in the vicinity of the coasts of Arabia. This wind brings rain on the eastern coasts of Africa. The south-west monsoon does not extend south of the equator, but usually begins a short distance north of it. It blows from the latter end of April to the middle of October. Along the coast of Africa, it appears at the end of March; but along the coast of Malabar, not before the middle of April; it ceases, however, sooner in the former than in the latter region. The rainy season on the west coast of Hindustan commences with the first approach of the south-west monsoon. The monsoons prevail also on the seas between Australia and China. [Illustration: [++] Mpnsoons.] The effect of the struggle which precedes the change in the direction of the wind in this part of the world is thus described in "Forbes's Oriental Memoirs." The author was encamped with the English troops: