studded with palm-groves on our right, the tall towers of Seringam appeared rising above the trees which border the waters of the Cauvery; and near the town there are large plantain-groves. In leaving Trichinopoly on the road to the Neilgherries it is necessary to cross a small affluent of the Cauvery in ferry-boats. Those for foot-passengers are of wicker covered with hides, and perfectly round, like those which are described by Herodotus, and are still used on the Tigris and Euphrates. After jolting all night through endless groves of banyan and peepul trees, I reached Caroor, the ancient capital of the Chira Rajahs, the following morning. The Chira state, in the days of its prosperity, extended over Coimbatore, and part of Mysore and Malabar. Caroor is a town of some size, in the middle of a plain, through which flows the river Amaravati, a tributary of the Cauvery. Mr. Roberts, the Sub-Collector, was living in a curious upper story, on the top of a pagoda, the entrance to which leads under a tall brick gopuram, 86 feet high, 64 feet long at the base, and 52 feet broad, sculptured with images exactly on the pattern of those at Madura. The country between Caroor and the foot of the Neilgherries is flat and uninteresting, chiefly cultivated with cholum, cumboo, cotton, and a few pulses, with rice in some places. The road is execrable, and generally lined with banyan-trees, which, though affording pleasant shade, are ungainly and ugly, owing to the numerous bunches of dusty-looking roots, which hang in all directions from the branches. On arriving at Matepoliem I found a pony waiting, and, riding up the Coonoor ghaut, returned to Ootacamund. Half-way up the ghaut, at a place called Burlear, Mr. Thomas, the Collector of Coimbatore, has a small but interesting garden, containing all kinds of spices, cacao, coffee and tea plants, besides oranges, lemons, and citrons.

5 The largest temple in Southern India, next to that of Madura.

6 From Kar, black, and ur a town, in Tamil.

During my tour through the principal Tamil districts I was chiefly struck with the evidences, furnished by the pagodas of Madura and Seringam, and the works of Tirumalla Naik, of the great surplus revenue which was once derived from the land. By the execution of additional public works, the improvement of means of communication, and judicious reductions of the land-tax, which will induce the ryots to bring more waste land under cultivation, much has been effected, but much still remains to be done, before the country attains the same degree of prosperity which it appears to have enjoyed in the best days of the Pandyan and Naik dynasties. Tanjore has probably already reached the highest state of profitable rice cultivation, through the irrigation supplied by the Coleroon anicuts. But much may yet be done with regard to the encouragement of the growth of cotton in Coimbatore, Madura, and Tinnevelly; and hereafter the coffee and chinchona plantations of the Neilgherry hills, the Pulneys, and the Anamallays will supply another important source of wealth and prosperity.

To the north of the Cauvery, in the district of Salem, there is a range of isolated hills, called the Shervaroys, which rise, a few miles north-east of the town of Salem, into a mass of densely wooded flat-topped hills. The mean height of the table-land of the Shervaroys, on their summits, is 4600 feet, and the highest peak rises to 5260 feet. In the Salem district the south-west monsoon sets in early in June, and showers continue till September; and in the end of October the north-east monsoon brings a return of rain from the opposite quarter, which continues until December, when the rains cease, owing to the change of wind from north-east to due north. There are several coffee estates on the Shervaroy hills, but they are considered to be too dry, and, although the coffee produced is said to be of excellent quality, yet the yield is small, and I was told that the Shervaroy plantations

were generally losing concerns. The land-tax on these estates is one rupee an acre. Between December and June it is exceedingly dry, and I, therefore, did not consider it advisable to try the experiment of chinchona cultivation on the Shervaroys during the first or second years. If the plants are hereafter found to be capable of enduring longer droughts than we at present expect, they may then be tried on the Shervaroys.

7

For the same reason I gave up all idea of the hills near Courtallum, in Tinnevelly. At Courtallum, notwithstanding the perennial humidity, the rainfall is only 40 inches, though on the surrounding hills it is probably greater. The elevation of those hills, however, is not sufficient for the profitable cultivation of most species of chinchona-plants. Tinnevelly is sheltered from the south-west monsoon by the Travancore mountains, and from the north-east monsoon by the Serumullay hills, 3500 feet high, which rise from the Madura plains near Dindigul, and by the island of Ceylon to the east. This extreme south part of the peninsula, between latitude 8° and 10° north, therefore receives little moisture, and has a hot arid climate, resembling Egypt, and producing senna and Indian cotton of the best quality. It is possible, however, that localities may hereafter be found, where the chinchona species suited to comparatively low elevations might flourish, such as C. succirubra and C. micrantha, on the mountains dividing Tinnevelly from Travancore.

8

7 Hooker's Flora Indica, i. p. 124.

8 Ibid., i. p. 133.

CHAPTER XXVI.

MYSORE AND COORG.

Seegoor ghaut-Sandal-wood - Mysore - Seringapatam - Hoonsoor - The tannery Fraserpett - Mercara - The fort- The Rajahs of Coorg

The Coorgs-Origin of the river Cauvery-Coorg - Climate - Coffee cultivation-Sites for chinchona-plantations - Caryota Urens-- Virarajendrapett-Cardamom cultivation — Kumari - Poon, blackwood, and teak - Pepper cultivation in Malabar - Cannanore - Nuggur and Baba Bodeen hills-The Beebee of Cannanore - Compta - Sedashighur Arrive at Bombay.

THE descent from the plateau of the Neilgherries to the plains of Mysore on the north, is by the Seegoor ghaut, the only one which is practicable for carriages. It is much tamer, and not to be compared with those of Sispara or Coonoor; and at the foot there is a wide belt of thin, stunted, pestiferous jungle, twenty-five miles in breadth, through which the river Moyaar flows to join the Bowany. There are a great many young teak-trees, and sandal-wood is also found, in the forests on the inner or eastern slopes of the ghauts; but all the timber looked poor and stunted.' The sandal-wood tree (Santalum album) is about twenty feet high, with numerous spreading branches, and small purplish flowers. Dr. Cleghorn reports that with vigilant supervision, and slight assistance to nature in clearing the heads of young plants, which are often matted down by creepers, an addition might accrue to the revenue of several districts in the Madras Presidency by the

1 Dr. Cleghorn states that the Seegoor forest has been much exhausted by unscrupulous contractors. "It is important," he adds, "that it should be allowed to recover, as it is the main source of supply to Ootacamund for housebuilding purposes."

Captain Morgan has been placed in charge of it, and it is hoped that the sale of sandal and jungle-wood will cover the expenses, while the young teak is coming on for future supply, P. 36.

sale of sandal-wood. The export trade in sandal-wood and oil is even now very considerable. The road from the foot of the Seegoor ghaut to Mysore, a distance of sixty-four miles, is excellent, and there is a very good bridge over the river Moyaar. We passed the night at the half-way bungalow of Goondulpett, whence there is a grand view, with scattered date-palms in the foreground, a vast expanse of undulating plain beyond, bounded by the belt of forest, with the blue line of the Neilgherries in the distance. There is nothing of interest between Goondulpett and Mysore.

Mysore is on a table-land 2450 feet above the sea. On the western side of the town flows the Purneah canal, which comes from a distance of seventy miles to supply Mysore with water, and was made by the Brahmin minister Purneah, who came into power during the present Rajah's minority, after the death of Tippoo. In approaching the town, the isolated rocky hill of Chamandi is seen on the right. Mysore is fortified, and, after passing under the ramparts, we entered a square, one side of which is occupied by the Rajah's palace. Here, and in the adjoining streets, there was an unusual amount of life and bustle owing to the presence of a native court; and we met crowds of nautch-girls, men in various costumes, elephants, camels, and bullock-carts. Some of the houses have upper stories, but the majority are dark places, with red-tiled roofs extending far over, and forming verandahs.

Mysore is so called from its having been the abode of the buffalo-headed demon Mahesh-asur, who was slain by Parvati, the wife of Siva, in her most hideous and repulsive form, as Cali, the impersonation of vengeance. The country, from 1336 to 1565, formed a part of the Brahminical kingdom of Bijayanuggur; and in 1576 one Raj Wadeyar established his independence as ruler of Mysore, from whom the present Rajah is descended. After the death of Tippoo Sultan, and