NEILGHERRY HILLS.
Extent--Formation--Soil--Climate--Flora--Hill
tribes--Todars--Antiquities--Badagas--Koters--Kurumbers--Irulas
--English stations--Kotergherry--Ootacamund--Coonoor--Jakatalla
--Government gardens at Ootacamund and Kalhutty--Mr. McIvor--Coffee
cultivation--Rules for sale of waste lands--Forest conservancy.
THE Neilgherry[399] hills, between latitude 11° 10' and 11° 32' N., and
longitude 76° 59' and 77° 31' E., form the most elevated mountain mass
in India, south of the Himalayas; the highest peak, that of Dodabetta,
being 8610 feet above the level of the sea. They are isolated on three
sides, and rise up abruptly from the plains of Coimbatore on the south,
and from the table-lands of Wynaad and Mysore on the north and east,
to a height of 6000 feet above the former, and 2000 to 3000 above the
latter; from which they are divided by the broad ravine of the river
Moyaar. On the west they are united with the Koondah range, which is
a continuation of the western ghauts. The area of the Neilgherries
contains 268,494 acres, of which 24,000 are under cultivation.
The formation consists of syenitic granite, with veins of basaltic
rock, hornblende, and quartz, while, in some parts, half-decomposed
laterite underlies the soil. The plateau is not a flat table-land, but
a succession of undulating hills and intervening grassy valleys, with
ravines thickly wooded, numerous streams, and occasional rocky ridges
running up into fine mountain-peaks. The streams all go to swell the
great river Cauvery, by its tributaries the Moyaar and Bowany; the
Moyaar descending from the hills by a fine waterfall at Neddiwuttum, on
the northern slope; and the Bowany flowing down between the Koondahs
and Neilgherries to the south. The soil of the plateau is very rich,
being formed by the decomposition of basaltic and hornblende rocks,
mixed with the clayey products of the granite, and much decomposed
vegetable matter. The latter consists of the grass killed down to the
roots by the frost, washed in by the succeeding rains, and mixed with
the subsoil, increasing its richness and depth season after season. The
richest land is on the lower slopes, where there are accumulations of
soil washed from the hills above:[400] and there are extensive deposits
of peat in the valleys, which afford supplies of fuel. The chief defect
in the soil is the absence of lime.
The temperature and amount of humidity vary according to the locality.
At Ootacamund, 7300 feet above the sea, the means of the thermometer
range from 42° to 68°, while in the two other lower and warmer stations
of Coonoor and Kotergherry, about 6000 feet above the sea, the range
is from 52° to 71°. The annual rainfall at Ootacamund is sixty inches,
at Coonoor fifty-five inches, and at Kotergherry fifty inches. During
the south-west monsoon, from May to September, the rain comes down in
torrents at Sispara, and in the western parts of the Neilgherries,
but their force is somewhat exhausted before reaching Ootacamund, in
the centre of the plateau. At that station the rainfall, during the
south-west monsoon, is about thirty-four inches; and the range of
Dodabetta, which rises up like a wall, immediately to the eastward of
Ootacamund, almost entirely screens the eastern part of the hills from
the rains of the south-west monsoon, and there the rainfall is only
twelve inches from May to September. During the portion of the year
from October to April the western parts of the hills are comparatively
dry, the prevalent winds are from the north-east, and the rains which
they bring with them from the Madras coast do not extend farther west
than the neighbourhood of Ootacamund. Kotergherry, and the eastern
parts of the hills, receive the full benefit of the rains from the
north-east monsoon, but they are not heavy, and the rainfall at
Kotergherry, in that season, is thirty-eight inches. Ootacamund also
gets some of the rain of the north-east monsoon (thirty-six inches),
so that, in that central part of the plateau, there is a belt which
receives a moderate supply of rain throughout the year. In January and
December there are frosts in the night, and the extreme radiation which
goes on in the valleys causes great cold at sunrise; but these frosts
are confined to the valleys in the upper plateau, and they never visit
the higher slopes, or the well-wooded "_sholas_."
The climates of the Neilgherry hills are the most delightful in the
world; and it may be said of this salubrious region, with its equable
seasons, what the Persian poet said of Kung, "the warmth is not
heat, and the coolness is not cold."[401] On the open plateau, in
the wooded _sholas_, and in the thick forests of the lower slopes,
there is a great variety of beautiful flowering trees and shrubs; and
the vegetation of the hills is both varied and luxuriant. First, in
the brilliant splendour of its flowers, must be mentioned the tree
rhododendron (_Rhododendron arboreum_), which is very common in all
parts of the hills, either forming small thickets or dotted about on
the grassy slopes. It grows to a height of twenty feet, with a gnarled
stunted trunk, and masses of deep crimson flowers. In the "sholas" are
the _Michelia nilagiraca_, a large tree, with yellowish-white fragrant
flowers of great size; the _Symplocos pulchra_, with hairy leaves and
snow-white flowers; the _Ilex Wightiana_, a large umbrageous tree,
with small white flowers and red berries; the pretty pink-flowered
_Rhodo-myrtus tomentosa_, the berries of which are called "hill
gooseberries;" the _Jasminum revolutum_, a shrub with sweet yellow
flowers; the _Sapota elingoides_, a fine forest-tree, with rough
cracked bark, and an edible fruit used in curries; _Crotalariæ_;
_Bignoniæ_; peppers, cinnamon, a number of chinchonaceous shrubs, and
many others.
In the open grassy slopes and near the edges of the wooded ravines
are several _Vaccinia_, especially the _Vaccinium Leschenaultii_,
a shrub with pretty rose-coloured flowers; the beautiful _Osbeckia
Gardneriana_, with a profusion of large purple flowers; the handsome
_Viburnum Wightianum_; a number of balsams (_Impatiens_ of several
species); the _Gaultheria Leschenaultii_ in great quantities, a pretty
little shrub with white flowers and blue berries; the _Berberis
Mahonia_, with its glossy prickly leaves and long slender racemes of
yellow flowers; and the bright little pink _Indigofera pulchella_;
while the climbing passion-flower (_Passiflora Leschenaultii_) hangs in
festoons over the trees, especially in the eastern parts of the hills.
Among the more inconspicuous plants are the _Gallium requienianum_;
the _Rubia cordifolia_;[402] the thorny _Solanum ferox_, with stem
and leaves covered with strong straight prickles; the _Girardinia
Leschenaultii_,[403] or Neilgherry nettle, a most virulent stinger;
the tall _Lobelia excelsa_; a _Justitia_, with a blue flower, which
entirely covers some of the hills; some pretty _Sonerilas_; several
beautiful _Ipomœas_ and _lilies; elsias_; and the _Hypericum
Hookerianum_, growing plentifully in the meadows, with large orange
flowers; besides ferns, lycopods, and numberless small wild flowers in
the grass and underwood.
Enjoying a delightful climate, well supplied with water, and with
its gentle undulations of hill and dale in some places clothed with
rich pasture, in others presenting woods of fine timber and beautiful
flowering shrubs, the Neilgherry hills are eminently fitted for the
abode of a thriving and civilized people. Yet for many centuries
it would appear that their sole inhabitants were a strange race of
cowherds, a people differing in all respects from their neighbours in
the plains, and indeed from all the other natives of Hindostan.
These are the Todars, a race numbering less than a thousand souls, who
now claim to be the original "Lords of the hills." In times so remote
that no record of them remains there are still indications that the
Indian peninsula was peopled by races of Scythic origin: and, when
the Aryan warriors came forth with their Vedic hymns and grand old
civilization from the fastnesses of Sind, they swept irresistibly over
Hindostan, and formed as it were an upper stratum of the population.
The Scythic element either mixed with, or became subservient to the
Aryan in the plains, as the Sudra caste, while in the hill and forest
fastnesses a few tribes remained isolated and independent. Such,
possibly, may have been the origin of the Todars on the Neilgherries.
The Brahmins, characteristically dovetailing every tradition and every
race into one or other of their historical myths, declare that the
Todars came from the north in the army of Rama, when he marched against
the wicked Ravana; and that, deserting their chief, they fled to these
hills. They themselves have no tradition of their origin, but believe
that they were created on the hills.
They are certainly a very remarkable and interesting people, tall,
well-proportioned, and athletic, and utterly unlike all other natives
of India. They have Jewish features, with aquiline noses, hazel eyes,
thick lips, bushy black beards, and immensely thick clusters of glossy
hair cut so as to stand in dense masses round the sides of the head, a
very necessary protection from the sun, as they never wear any other
head-covering. The old men are very handsome, with long white beards
and upright gait, looking like the patriarchs of the Old Testament,
with their strongly marked Jewish features: but the expressions of
the younger men are less agreeable to look upon. The women are very
careful of their hair, which hangs down in long glossy ringlets; and
both sexes wear nothing but a long piece of coarse cotton cloth, with
two broad red stripes round the edges, worn by the men like a Roman
toga, which sets off their well-shaped limbs to advantage, and exposes
one leg entirely, up to the hip; and by the women so as to form a short
petticoat and mantle. They never wash either their persons or their
clothes from the day of their birth to the day of their death. They
live in small encampments called _munds_, which are scattered over the
hills, and consist of five or six huts, and a larger one used as a
dairy. The families are in the habit of migrating from one _mund_ to
another, at certain seasons of the year; so that we often came upon a
_mund_ apparently abandoned. A Todar's hut is exactly like the tilt of
a waggon, very neatly roofed, with the ends boarded in, and a single
low entrance. They are generally surrounded by a stone wall, and the
dairy, a larger and more important building, is always a little apart.
The only occupation of this singular people is to tend their large
herds of fine buffaloes; they live on milk, and on the grain which they
collect as a due or _goodoo_ from the other hill tribes, and pass the
greater part of their time in idleness; lolling about and gossiping
in their munds, or strolling over the hills. We passed through one of
these munds, about a quarter of a mile from our hotel, almost daily,
but I never remember having seen a Todar engaged in any occupation
whatever.
The women become the wives of all the brothers into whose families
they marry, the children being apportioned to husbands according to
seniority. This pernicious custom is also common among the Coorg, and
the Tiars of Malabar. The Todars, formerly, only allowed one female
child to live in each family, the rest being strangled; but the
authorities have lately interfered to put a stop to this custom. When
a Todar bride is given away, she is brought to the dwelling of her
husbands, who each put their feet upon her head; she is then sent to
fetch water for cooking, and the ceremony is considered to be complete.
The German missionaries, who have had a good deal of intercourse with
these people, say that they worship the "sacred buffalo bell," as
a representation of _Hiridea_, or the chief God, before which they
pour libations of milk; and when there is a dispute about wives or
buffaloes it is decided by the priest, who becomes possessed by the
_Bell God_, rushes frantically about, and pronounces in favour of the
richest. Formerly there were seven holy _munds_, each inhabited by
a recluse called _palaul_ (milkman), attended upon by a _kavilaul_
(herdsman); but three of these are now deserted, and the fourth is
rarely frequented. The rest have a herd of holy buffaloes attached to
them for the use of the sanctified occupants, and no women may approach
them. The only religious festival of any kind celebrated by the Todars,
and that scarcely deserves the name, takes place on the occasion of a
funeral, when there is much dancing and music. The body is burnt, and
buffaloes are slaughtered to go with the spirit, and supply it with
milk. This is called the green funeral. A year afterwards there is
another ceremony called the dry funeral, when forty or fifty buffaloes
were hunted down, and beaten to death with clubs; but the Government
has recently prohibited the immolation of more than two beasts for a
rich, and one for a poor Todar. The burial-places are like gigantic
extinguishers, twelve feet high, and thatched with grass. The bodies
are burnt, and the ashes collected and put into chatties, which are
deposited in the extinguisher. The Todars have no other ceremonies,
care for nothing but their buffaloes, and leave prayers to the _palaul_
in his lonely retreat, or to the _palikarpal_ or dairyman of each mund,
who covers his nose with his thumb when he enters the sacred dairy, and
says "May all be well!"[404]
The Todar language is a very rude dialect of the old Canarese, and
similar to that of the Badagas, another hill tribe. It is very poor in
words conveying abstract ideas, as they have few notions beyond their
buffaloes; their verbs have generally but one tense, and they express
the future and past by means of adverbs of time.[405]
There are many ancient cairns and _tumuli_ on the peaks of the
Neilgherries, and it has been objected that they cannot be assigned
to the ancestors of the Todars, because agricultural implements have
been found in them, and these people never cultivate the ground. But
it must be remembered that the Todars now extort _goodoo_ or tribute
of grain from the other hill tribes, and that it is their only food.
It must be inferred, therefore, that, before they discovered this easy
mode of procuring food, and previous to the arrival of these weaker
agricultural tribes on the hills, the Todars must have been their own
cultivators. The hill people attribute all ancient ruins, of the origin
of which they know nothing, to the Pandus, the famous heroes of Hindu
tradition; and all that can be said of these Neilgherry cairns is that
they are probably the work of an unknown extinct race, who practised
Druidical rites.[406]
We visited several of these remains of an ancient people. On the summit
of the peak of Kalhutty, on the left hand of the road leading down the
Seegoor ghaut to the Mysore plains, whence there is a grand view of
mountain scenery, forest-clad slopes, and a wide expanse of country
stretching away to the horizon, we found several old cairns. They were
of great size, built of immense stones, and hollow in the centre. On
another peak, called Ibex Hill, one side of which is a scarped cliff
many hundreds of feet in height, overhanging the Seegoor ghaut, we also
found two huge cairns, forming a circle about eight feet in diameter.
There are many others in different parts of the hills, generally on
the highest peaks, and iron spear-heads, bells, sepulchral urns with
figures of coiled snakes, tigers, elephants, dogs, and birds on them,
sickles and gold rings have been found buried under the piles of stones.
The Todars, as has been said, are the "lords of the hills," and not
only all the other hill tribes pay them tribute, but the English
Government also pays rent to them for the land on which the stations
are situated.[407] But the agricultural tribe of Burghers or Badagas,
who came to the hills several centuries after the Todars, and are
subject to them, are by far the most numerous, numbering 15,000 souls,
and occupying 300 villages. They are divided into eighteen classes or
castes, the members of one of which, called the Wodearu Badagas, wear
the Brahminical string, are proud and lazy, and inhabit five villages
apart from the rest. The villages of the Badagas are scattered all
over the plateau of the hills, and their land occupies two-thirds
of its area. They are much darker, and not nearly such fine men as
the Todars, wear cotton-cloth turbans and clothing much like other
natives of India, and are very superstitious and timid; but they are
industrious, though not so much so as the labourers who come up from
the plains, and kind and affectionate to their women and children.
The Badagas, though they possess herds of buffaloes, are chiefly
employed in cultivation. Their crops consist of _raggee_ (_Eleusine
corocana_), the most prolific of cultivated grasses,[408] which is
made into dark brown cakes and porridge; _samee_ or Italian millet,
barley, an amaranth called _keeray_, some pulses, mustard, onions, and
potatoes. We often passed through the Badaga villages. The houses are
built in a single row, with one thatched roof extending over so as
to form a verandah, supported on poles. In front there is a hard mud
floor, where the piles of grain are heaped up; and there is generally
a _Swami_-house or temple, with a verandah in front supported by
numerous poles, the walls and poles being painted in red and white
stripes, the Hindu holy colour. Round the villages there are cultivated
patches of _raggee_ and _samee_, which they were reaping in December.
In the centre of the fields there is a small threshing-floor, where
we often saw the Badagas sifting the grain from the chaff by shaking
it through sieves, and letting the wind blow the chaff away. A Todar
was generally squatting near, like an old vulture, waiting for his
_goodoo_. The Badagas belong to the Siva sect, their principal deity
being Rungaswamy, whose temple is on the summit of the easternmost peak
of the Neilgherries; but they also worship 338 other idols or _Swamis_,
such as trees, streams, stone pillars, and even old knives.
Another hill tribe is that of the Koters, who occupy seven large
villages called _Kotergherry_ (cowkiller's hill). They are of very
low caste, and work as carpenters, smiths, rope-makers, and potters,
besides cultivating the ground. The Koters also dress and prepare
buffalo-hides, and they are a squalid dirty race, living on the carrion
they pick up on the road-sides. They number about five hundred souls,
and are the artizans of the hills, repairing the ploughs, hoes, and
bill-hooks for the Badagas.
The Kurumbers, another tribe, live on the slopes of the hills, in the
most feverish places. They are a short miserable-looking race, and
those called _Mooloo_ or jungle Kurumbers are regular wild men of the
woods, in no respect raised above the beasts of the forest. The others
act as musicians and sorcerers to the Todars and Badagas.
Lastly, the Irulas live low down the slopes of the hills, perform the
office of priests in the Badagas' temple on the Rungaswamy peak, and
occasionally act plays from the life of Krishna at Badaga festivals.
These five tribes of Todars, Badagas, Koters, Kurumbers, and Irulas,
appear for centuries to have had the exclusive enjoyment of the
Neilgherry hills; though Tippoo Sultan of Mysore erected a fort
at Kalhutty, half-way up the Seegoor ghaut, and another on the
Hoolicul-droog, overhanging the Coonoor ghaut, which leads up from the
Coimbatore plains. He is said to have used these strongholds for the
detention of prisoners, and to enable his officers to extort tribute
from the hill tribes. The Neilgherry hills were first discovered by two
English civilians who made their way up to the plateau in chasing some
Moplah smugglers.[409]
In 1820 Mr. John Sullivan, then Collector of Coimbatore, built the
first house in Ootacamund, on the site of a Todar mund of the same
name.[410] It is now used as the building for the Lawrence Asylum.
The first sanatarium on the hills, however, was at Dimhutty, on the
eastern side, and at the adjoining station of Kotergherry, but the
former is now abandoned. The delightful climate soon attracted crowds
of visitors from the burning plains; many houses gradually rose up
on the grassy slopes round the lake which was formed at Ootacamund
by bunding up one end of the valley, and the place rapidly became an
important hill-station. A small native town and bazaar sprang up on
the banks of the lake, a handsome church was erected, a club-house,
and, most conspicuous of all, an immense Parsee shop kept by Framjee
Nusserwanjee of Bombay. The roads are excellent, and planted with tall
graceful Acacia and gum-trees from Australia, and many of the houses
are surrounded by beautiful gardens and shrubberies. The most charming,
perhaps, is that of the late Bishop Dealtry, called Bishops-down,
whence there is a glorious view of the station on one side, and of the
distant Koondah hills, overtopped by the sharp peak of Makoorty, on
the other. Advantage has here been taken of a wooded _shola_ to make
pleasant shady walks, and cut vistas through the trees.
The warmer station of Coonoor is about nine miles from Ootacamund, at
the head of the ghaut which leads down to the plains of Coimbatore.
Here the scenery is far more beautiful than at the central station,
as the wooded sides of the ghaut run up into a fine peak called the
Hoolicul-droog, and the view extends far away over the plains. The
houses are perched on the rounded tops of a range of hills, and there
is a church with a fine tower, which is a great addition to the view
of Coonoor from the surrounding eminences. A mile from Coonoor, in
the direction of Ootacamund, is the military station of Jakatalla,
the finest barracks I ever saw in any part of the world. It is well
sheltered by high hills from the cold north winds to which Ootacamund
is exposed, as well as from the south-west monsoon, and is in every
respect admirably adapted as a sanatarium for soldiers and their
families. It has been maintained that the children of Europeans cannot
be reared even on the hills of India, though upon what grounds this
extraordinary assertion is based I have not yet learnt. The strongest
arguments against this idea are the fresh rosy cheeks and rude health
of the boys and girls in the Lawrence asylum, and of the boys and
young men at Mr. Pope's[411] and Mr. Nash's schools in Ootacamund,
who present a striking contrast to the children on the plains. The
bracing climate of the upper plateau of these hills appears to me
to be perfectly well adapted for European colonists: it has all the
advantages with none of the disadvantages of England, and there are
no influences which can be detrimental to English constitutions. At
the time of our visit a battalion of the 60th Rifles, and a number
of convalescent soldiers from other regiments, were stationed at
Jakatalla. The quarters for the men are built round a large quadrangle,
with an upper story, and airy corridors for exercise in wet weather.
Beyond are the married quarters for ninety couples, each with two
comfortable rooms and a little garden; and there are also a hospital,
library, schoolrooms, substantially-built skittle-alley with brick
arches, fives-court, and swimming-bath. The officers are quartered
in bungalows on the surrounding hill-slopes, or at Coonoor. It would
be well if the whole of the European troops in the Madras Presidency
were permanently quartered on the Neilgherry and other hills as soon
as the railroads are completed. Many of the married men might be
permitted to cultivate and settle on land of their own, with their
families, subject to the condition of being liable to be called on to
serve if required, and a sort of military colony might thus be formed.
There is excellent pasture for flocks of sheep, wheat may be grown in
any quantity, and there is not the slightest danger to Europeans in
undertaking field labour.
The English settler on the Neilgherries will find English fruits,
flowers, vegetables, and grasses, the introduction of which is mainly
due to the exertions of Mr. William G. McIvor, the Superintendent of
the Government gardens at Ootacamund, and now also Superintendent
of Chinchona plantations in Southern India. This gentleman has been
in charge of the gardens at Ootacamund since 1848, and unites zeal,
intelligence, and skill to the talent and experience of an excellent
practical gardener. Under his auspices the steep slopes of one of
the spurs, which run off from the peak of Dodabetta, and overlook
the cantonment of Ootacamund, have been converted into a tastefully
laid-out garden, in a succession of terraces. Hampered at first by the
interference of a useless committee, and with no assistance beyond that
of an East Indian foreman and labourers from the Mysore plains, he has
succeeded in changing the wild mountain-sides into a very beautiful
public garden. Every point of view is taken advantage of with admirable
taste, and numerous trees and flowering shrubs have been introduced
from England, Australia, and other countries, while the native flora of
the hills is fully represented. There are English roses and geraniums,
ponds bordered by white arums, shady walks over-arched by trellis-work,
tasteful vases filled with showy flowers, thickets of rhododendrons,
hedges of heliotrope and fuchsia, fine clumps of tall spreading trees,
and, from the upper terraces, between the leafy branches, there are
glorious views of the Ootacamund valley, and of the finely broken range
of the distant Koondah hills.
Mr. McIvor also has a small branch-garden at Kalhutty, about half-way
down the Seegoor ghaut, leading to the Mysore plains, for raising
fruits which require a warmer climate. This garden is self-supporting.
A magnificent waterfall descends into a rocky basin close beside it,
and the garden contains oranges of many kinds, shaddocks, lemons,
limes, citrons, nutmegs, loquats, and plantains. On this spot the
delicious chirimoyas, the seeds of which we brought from Peru,
will hereafter ripen, and enable the people of India to taste the
"masterpiece of nature."
European enterprise on the Neilgherries has hitherto been chiefly
directed towards the cultivation of coffee, and there are several
fine estates near Coonoor. On the 15th of November we set out from
Ootacamund to visit them, and rode down the valley of Kaitee, where the
house stands which once belonged to Lord Elphinstone, certainly not in
a well-selected spot. It was originally chosen for a Government farm,
which was given up, and the house was then occupied for a short time by
the Governor of Pondicherry. Lord Elphinstone, when Governor of Madras,
took a fancy to the place, erected a very substantial house, finished
it handsomely, and frequently resided there. In 1845 the property
was bought by Mr. Casamajor of the Civil Service, who established a
school there for Badaga children, on the principle of paying them for
coming, at the rate of 1 anna a day. On his death he left it to the
Basle Evangelical Missionaries, by whom it is now occupied. They have
schools, and labour amongst the Badagas, but as yet with scarcely any
success.
The stream which drains the Kaitee valley forms a very beautiful
waterfall down the face of a cliff into the Karteri valley, where there
is a small coffee estate worked by a Frenchman; and, after crossing
a range of hills, in parts thickly wooded, and in parts covered
with a shrubby _Justitia_ with a blue flower, we reached the coffee
plantation of Hoolicul,[412] owned by Mr. Stainbank. The highest
part of his estate is 5700 feet above the sea,[413] and here he has
twenty-five acres planted in rather poor soil. Below his house there
are about forty-five more acres planted, down the steep slopes of the
hill, some of the bushes in very good bearing. They are thick, as he
is against pruning the branches, saying that when covered by leafy
branches the fruit ripens by degrees, and consequently requires less
labour in picking. The estate has passed through several hands, and the
oldest trees were planted seventeen years ago. Mr. Stainbank expects
eventually to get fifty tons of coffee off this estate, in the year. An
acre will occasionally yield twenty-five hundredweight.
The view from the house is very fine. The plantation slopes away by a
very steep descent, and in the distance are the Lambton's Peak range of
mountains, and the wide plains of Coimbatore.
Leaving Hoolicul, we again descended into the ravine of Karteri, where
the river passes close under the steep face of the hills on which the
station of Coonoor stands, and on the slopes of the opposite mountains
there are several coffee estates. Mr. Dawson, a son of the landlord of
the hotel at Ootacamund, has 100 acres planted; but the most extensive
estate, on the steep slopes overlooking the ghaut leading down into
the Coimbatore plains, belongs to Mr. Stanes. He has 200 acres planted
with 250,000 trees, up the precipitous sides of the mountain, facing
east, and protected from the excessive rains of the S.W. monsoon. The
elevation above the sea is upwards of 4800 feet. On the summits of the
mountains above this estate Mr. Stanes has induced the Todars to form
two cattle crawls, whence manure is washed down to his plantation. The
trees are planted in rows, 6 to 8 feet apart, and regularly topped and
pruned, so as to admit the sun to ripen the fruit on every branch.
They are from 4 to 6 feet high, and planted in holes 20 inches deep
by 18; the young plants being brought from a nursery, where seedlings
are raised. The trees are generally in full bearing in the third year.
After the berries are picked, and brought in baskets to the _godown_
or warehouse, the pulp or fleshy part has to be removed. The berries
are placed in heaps in a loft, above the _pulper_, looking bright and
red like ripe cherries. They are then sent down a shoot, into which
a stream of water is conducted, and are thus washed into the pulper.
On Mr. Stanes's estate this machine is worked by a water-wheel, but
generally it is turned by hand and a fly-wheel. The pulper is a roller
covered with a sheet of copper, made rough like a nutmeg-grater. The
berries fall on it as it goes round, but there is only room for the
seed to pass, so that the pulp is squeezed off, and carried away by
a stream thrown off by the water-wheel, while the naked coffee drops
on the other side. The seeds are still covered with glutinous matter,
to remove which they are well washed in a cistern, the inferior ones
floating, while the good ones sink. The coffee-seeds are then laid out
on the _barbecus_, square platforms of brick plastered with _chunam_,
with sides a foot high; where they dry in the sun for about three days,
and are afterwards stored in the godowns.
It is estimated that an acre of jungle on the Neilgherries may be
cleared for 200 Rs., including all expenses. The coffee-seedlings, from
the nursery, may be planted out in seven months, and they will yield a
first crop in three years. Coffee-seeds are 5 Rs. a bushel, and that
quantity will rear 10,000 plants, covering 10 acres. One acre ought to
yield one ton, when well cultivated, selling at Calicut, uncleaned,
for 4 annas the pound. In three years the estate ought to pay 10 per
cent. on the capital expended, if well conducted; the next year the
gross profit should increase to 60 per cent., and afterwards to 100
per cent. A good dwelling-house will cost 4000 Rs.; the pulping-house,
machinery, and godowns, 4000 Rs. more. Carpenters get 20 Rs. a month,
bricklayers 15 Rs., with 2 annas a day batta for coming out of the
town, and common labourers 4-1/2 Rs.
The Neilgherry planters have great advantages in the way of means of
conveyance from their estates to Calicut and Beypoor, their ports of
shipment. The coffee is carried down the Coonoor ghaut on pack-bullocks
to Matepoliem, and thence in carts along a good road, by Palghatchery,
to the sea-coast. Generally the coffee from the Neilgherry estates
is bought by Mr. Perry and Mr. Andrews at Calicut, in rather a dirty
state. They have garbling-machines for clearing away all remaining dry
pulp, and removing the outer coat from the seeds; and they make their
profit by shipping the coffee and selling it in a clean state fit for
European use. Neilgherry coffee has an excellent name in the London
market.
Europeans, on the Neilgherries, hold land by a _puttum_ or grant from
Government, leasing it in perpetuity, so long as the assessment is
paid, which is fixed at 1 R. per acre of coffee-land, levied after
the third year. By the resolution of the Madras Government, dated
August 5th, 1859, the terms on which waste lands can be purchased were
regulated. These orders apply to all the regions in Southern India
which are suited for coffee or chinchona cultivation. It was resolved
to sell outright the fee-simple of all land used for building, and of
waste land in the hills, without reservation of quit-rent, and with an
absolute and indefeasible title, sold to the highest bidder at an upset
price, at twenty times the amount of yearly quit-rent or land-tax. A
title-deed will be given under the seal of the Government, declaring
the absolute title of the holder, free from all demands on account of
land-revenue, with full powers to dispose of the land at pleasure, but
not exempting it from payments for municipal purposes. Other parties,
however, claiming a previous right in the land, will be free to sue
the holder in the Civil Courts, up to a certain time, so that it will
be necessary to make careful investigations on this point before
purchasing. When the land-tax is not redeemed, Government will issue
permanent title-deeds, reserving a quit-rent, and the holder will be
free to redeem the tax, on the same terms, at any future time.
With regard to labour on the Neilgherries, there used to be abundant
supplies of coolies from Mysore and Coimbatore, but they have recently
fallen off, owing to competition on the railway works. Mr. Stanes was
paying his labourers 4-1/2 Rs. a month, and women 3-1/2 Rs. He told me
that he was particular always to pay every labourer himself, and to
be very kind to them, by which means he never found any difficulty in
procuring labour. Some of the planters get the services of Badagas, and
even of some Kurumbers in the picking-time, but the hill tribes are not
generally willing to work on the coffee plantations. There are fifteen
coffee estates on the Neilgherry hills.
But the oldest coffee-district in Southern India is Wynaad, a
forest-covered plateau about 3000 feet above the sea, which adjoins the
Neilgherries on the north. In this district there are upwards of thirty
coffee-plantations, some of them, such as that of Messrs. Campbell
and Ouchterlony, near the ascent to the Neilgherry hills, being very
extensive.[414] There is a great rainfall in Wynaad during the S.W.
monsoon, and the crops are very abundant; but at the same time the
coffee is not so good as that grown in drier situations, such as the
Neilgherries near Coonoor, though the yield is greater. Most of the
available land is already taken up. The labour is derived from Mysore,
whence the coolies come, often from distances of sixty or seventy
miles, returning to their families when their wages are paid. In 1860
the tax on coffee-estates in Wynaad was fixed at 2 Rs. an acre on land
actually planted, to be imposed in the third year, at which time the
trees are in bearing.[415]
The export trade in coffee, from all the hill-districts of Southern
India, was, in 1859-60, as follows:--
Quantity. Value.
From the ports of Malabar 7,35,19,26lbs. 7,35,177 R^s
" " Canara 5,13,36,35 8,66,644
" " Tinnevelly 23,36,93 23,387
" port of Madras 8,15,89,74 2,49,846
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20,87,82,28 18,75,054
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In connexion with the clearing of forests for coffee-cultivation, it
is imperative that due attention should be paid to the preservation
of valuable timber, and the conservancy of the belts of wood near the
sources and along the upper courses of streams, so as to ensure the
usual supplies of water, and to retain a due amount of moisture in
the atmosphere. For the superintendence of these important measures,
together with other duties, Dr. Cleghorn has been placed at the head of
a Forest Conservancy Department in the Madras Presidency. He strongly
urges that the high wooded mountain-tops overhanging the low country
should not be allowed to be cleared for coffee-cultivation, lest the
supplies of water should be injured.[416] "The courses of rivulets,"
he says, "should be overshadowed with trees, and the hills should
therefore be left clothed for a distance of half their height from
the top, leaving half the slopes and all the valleys for cultivation.
Immense tracts of virgin forest in the valleys of the Koondah hills
are eminently suited for coffee-cultivation. The clearing should only
be allowed from 2500 to 4500 feet, this being the extreme range within
which coffee planted on a large scale is found to thrive."
There are still thousands of acres of uncleared forests, at suitable
elevations, well adapted for the growth of coffee, in the cultivation
of which the English capitalist would make large and rapid profits; yet
it is not many years since the first coffee-plants were introduced into
these hills. Coffee now forms an important item in the exports from the
Madras Presidency. There is every reason to hope that the bark from
quinine-yielding chinchona-trees may also become one of the valuable
products of the hills; and in the following chapter I propose to give
an account of the selection of the sites for the first experimental
plantations.