I had read, in the histories, that the June marches made between Lucknow and Cawnpore by the British forces in the time of the Mutiny were made weather--138 in the shade and had taken it for historical embroidery.

I had read it again in Serjeant-Major Forbes-Mitchell's account of his military experiences in the Mutiny -- at least I thought I had--and in Calcutta I asked him if it was true, and he said it was.

An officer of high rank who had been in the thick of the Mutiny said the same.

As long as those men were talking about what they knew, they were trustworthy, and I believed them; but when they said it was now "cold weather," I saw that they had traveled outside of their sphere of knowledge and were floundering.

I believe that in India "cold weather" is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy.
It was observable that brass ones were in use while I was in Calcutta, showing that it was not yet time to change to porcelain; I was told the change to porcelain was not usually made until May.