Monsoon, there is a Tract of Sea to the Southwards of the Æquator, subject to the same Changes of the Winds, viz. near the African Coast, between it and the Island Madagascar or St. Lawrence, and from thence Northwards as far as the Line; wherein from April to October there is found a constant fresh S. S. W. Wind, which, as you go more Northerly, becomes still more and more Westerly, so as to fall in with the W. S. W. Winds, mention'd before, in those Months of the Year to be certain to the Northward of the Æquator: What Winds blow in these Seas, for the other half Year, from October to April, I have not yet been able to obtain to my full satisfaction, for that our Navigators always return from India without Madagascar, and so are little acquainted in this Matter; the Account that has been given me is only this, that the Winds are much Easterly hereabouts, and as often to the North of the true East as to the Southwards thereof.
- That to the Eastward of Sumatra and Malacca, to the Northwards of the Line, and along the Coast of Cambodia and China, the Monsoons blow North and South, that is to say, the N. E. Winds are much Northerly, and the S. W. much Southerly: This Constitution reaches to the Eastwards of the Philippine Isles, and as far Northerly as Japan. The Northern Monsoon setting in, in these Seas, in October or November, and the Southern in May, blowing all the Summer Months: Here it is to be noted, That the Points of the Compass, from whence the Wind comes in these Parts of the World, are not so fixt as in those lately describ'd; for the Southerly will frequently pass a Point or two to the Eastwards of the South, and the Northerly as much to the Westwards of the North, which seems occasion'd by the great quantity of Land, which is interspers'd in these Seas.