JOURNEY TO THE PULNEY HILLS.
Coonoor ghaut--Coimbatore--Pulladom--Cotton
cultivation--Dharapurum--A marriage procession--Dindigul--Ryotwarry
tenure--Pulney hills--Kodakarnal--Extent of the
Pulneys--Formation--Soil--Climate--Inhabitants--Flora--Suitability for
chinchona cultivation--Forest conservancy--Anamallay hills.
IN the end of November I set out from Ootacamund, by way of the Coonoor
ghaut and Coimbatore, with the intention of examining the suitability
of the Pulney hills in Madura for chinchona cultivation. The Coonoor
ghaut, on the southern side of the Neilgherry hills, leads down into
the plain of Coimbatore. The road is good, though much too steep ever
to make a convenient means of carriage traffic, and the scenery is
exceedingly fine. The deep gorge has forest-covered mountains on the
left, and a grand range of cliffs on the right, crowned by the bold
peak of the Hoolicul Droog. There are few districts in India without
some local tradition respecting the five Pandus,[423] the great
mythical heroes of ancient Hindoo history, and the Hoolicul Droog is
not without one. It is said that the fort on the summit of the Droog
was inhabited by a _rakshi_ or giant named Pukasooren, who levied a
tribute on the people of the plains, in the shape of a cart-load of
provisions daily. When he had eaten the provisions he swallowed the
driver, and kicked the cart down again. Bhima, the impersonation of
strength, when passing through this part of the country, volunteered
to act as driver, had a desperate encounter with the giant, and killed
him. The dying Pukasooren cursed the whole country over which the
shadow of the mountain fell during the day, and it has ever since
been the abode of a deadly fever. It is certain that the jungles at
the roots of the hills are the most fever-haunted districts in India,
and I rode rapidly through this belt of forests, and along a road
bordered with _cana-fistula_ and _sappan_-trees,[424] to the village of
Matepoliem, on the banks of the river Bowany, and five miles from the
foot of the ghaut.
Matepoliem is twenty-three miles from the town of Coimbatore, and I
rode this distance on a Neilgherry pony in the early morning. The road
is perfectly straight, with an avenue of shady trees along the whole
length, and good bridges over the dry sandy water-courses. The soil
appeared to be poor, partly waste, and partly cultivated with _cholum_
(_Sorghum Vulgare_[425]), _lablab_,[426] and sesame. _Cholum_, or great
millet, is much cultivated in the peninsula, and used as food in the
shape of cakes and porridge, where rice is scarce or too expensive.
It grows to a height of five or six feet, and cattle are very fond of
the straw, which contains sugar, but it soon exhausts the soil, and
two crops are never taken off the same land in succession. There are
two villages on the road between Matepoliem and Coimbatore, called
Karamuddy and Goodaloor, in both of which there is a _choultry_ or
native bungalow, and in the latter an English post-house. At Karamuddy
there is a very picturesque temple, and on the roadside I passed
several horses of earthenware, votive offerings by the potters to their
god. Under many of the trees there are images of the elephant-headed,
pot-bellied god of wisdom, Ganesa, anointed with ghee, and adorned with
garlands of flowers.
The streets of Coimbatore consist of long rows of red-tiled, mud-walled
buildings, with no windows, and overhanging eaves supported by wooden
pillars, under which there are raised platforms where the people sit
and talk. In peeping in at the doors, I could never discern any article
of furniture in the dark obscurity of the interiors, but they generally
looked clean and well swept. The houses of the English officials
are about a mile from the town, generally surrounded by park-like
compounds, but the trees and grass thrive badly in the shallow sandy
soil. Outside the town there are two very large tanks, one nearly a
mile long, which irrigate some rice-fields. The view is very pretty,
with these extensive sheets of water in the foreground, the cupolas of
temples rising above the trees beyond, and Lambton's Peak with the blue
line of the Neilgherries in the distance.
Some exertions are being made at Coimbatore, both by Protestant and
Roman Catholic missionaries, and about sixty natives attend the little
chapel of the London Mission Society. The Bible is very properly
not admitted into any of the Government schools, and, strange to
say, educated natives often inquire why this is not done, and why
Christians are ashamed of their Shaster. But in schools unconnected
with the Government the study of the Bible is enforced like any other
class-book, and there are upwards of forty Brahmin youths in Coimbatore
who habitually take it home to learn, with their other lessons, and
never make the slightest objection. Mr. Thomas, the Collector, felt
very strongly the great importance of educating the women, and a
girl-school has been set on foot, after much difficulty. At present
the influence of the women, and all women have influence, is for
evil. The men, to maintain their superiority, dislike the women to
know anything, and the head official of the cutcherry at Coimbatore,
who is a Brahmin, dare not let his friends know that his wife can read
and write, though this accomplishment makes her a more useful and
agreeable companion. The women, generally, are treated like slaves
by their husbands. They are never allowed to eat at the same time,
except on the wedding-day, and must walk behind their husbands on a
journey, generally carrying a child on their hips; yet I have seen the
man carrying the child, and at least taking turn about, and in other
respects they always appeared to be on good terms with each other.
At Coimbatore I bought a _bandy_ or country cart of the simplest
construction, with two wheels, no springs, and a hood of matting spread
over curved canes; and started, with relays of bullocks posted at
intervals of fifteen miles. This mode of travelling is inconceivably
slow, the rate being about three miles an hour, and it was near sunset
before I reached Pulladom, a village twenty-two miles from Coimbatore.
The road is nearly straight, and planted on both sides with trees of
stunted growth, owing to the shallowness of the soil. It was market-day
at Pulladom, and people were sitting in rows, before piles of cotton
cloths, rice, and dry grains; while an old Tahsildar, in spectacles and
snow-white garments, was holding a court under a verandah. In strolling
about I came upon the huge idol-car belonging to the village, on heavy
wooden trucks. The carvings on its sides were very elaborate, with
elephant-headed gods at the angles; but it is only dragged out on very
great occasions, and will require new trucks before it is moved again.
All this country round Coimbatore produces much cotton, and cloths
are manufactured in great quantities, which supply garments, such
as they are, for the people of the plains, as well as for the hill
tribes of the Neilgherries. The native cotton is of two kinds, called
_oopum-parati_ and _nadum parati_.[427] The seed of the latter is sown
broadcast, in the same field with _cholum_ and _cumboo_.[428] After the
grain is cut, the ground is ploughed between the plants four times, and
in the next year the cotton yields a small crop in July, and a larger
one in the following January. After the third year the field is manured
and cultivated with grain for two years, cotton being again sown when
the third crop of grain has been reaped. This _nadum_ cotton is very
little cultivated in the Coimbatore district. The chief product is the
_oopum_, the best indigenous cotton, raised, in rotations of two years,
with _cumboo_ and _cholum_.
The _oopum_ cotton is raised on the black soil,[429] an adhesive black
clay, while the little Bourbon cotton that is cultivated is grown on
red soil. It is picked very carelessly, and the bales are so badly
pressed that those which I passed in carts on the road looked as if
they would sink in like a feather-bed, if any one sat upon them.
Much pains have been taken by the Government for a series of years to
improve the method of cultivating cotton in India, and to introduce
American and other species; and very large sums of money have been
spent on experiments. Bourbon cotton was cultivated in Coimbatore as
early as 1824; and in 1842 Government cotton-farms were established
for the growth of New Orleans and Indian plants, both in the black and
red soils, under the able superintendence of Dr. Wight, the eminent
botanist. In 1849 these experiments were abandoned.
The great importance of the question of cotton supply from India has
been long felt, and never more so than at the present time. To meet the
requirements of the English markets numerous and costly attempts have
been made during a course of years to introduce the American species,
which produces a much longer staple than the indigenous Indian kind.
Yet American cotton has not hitherto been raised so as to yield a
profitable return, excepting in the province of Dharwar, in the Bombay
Presidency. The success in this instance is chiefly to be attributed
to a suitable soil and climate; but also, in no small degree, to the
energy of Mr. Shaw, a former Collector.
Great attention has been paid to the nature of the soils, while less
importance than it really deserves has been attached to climate,
though climate, and mainly one element of climate--the moisture of the
atmosphere--is an essential condition in the successful culture of
American cotton. In travelling southward from the latitude of Bombay
the climate becomes gradually moister, and at 300 miles there is a
very decided change. The American cotton-plant has a very different
constitution from the Indian; it cannot stand so much drought, and the
conditions required for its culture are an equable and moderate supply
of moisture through all the stages of its growth. These conditions are
fulfilled in the Dharwar country, which retains a considerable quantity
of moisture in the air during the cold season, when other parts of the
Bombay Presidency are intensely dry. Wherever this is the case, as in
Sind, Guzerat, Broach, and Ahmednuggur, the American plant will not
yield a remunerative crop. The indigenous plant is able to endure this
dry season well, because it is a native, not of the peninsula, but of
the arid country of Sind and part of the Punjab, where it grows wild.
If careful hygrometrical observations were taken throughout the year
in the various cotton districts, the results might be compared with
similar observations taken in Dharwar; and thus the localities may be
ascertained where the American cotton can be advantageously cultivated,
so far at least as this depends on the amount of moisture in the
atmosphere. The supply of aqueous vapour in the atmosphere, at any
period of the year, diminishes as we recede from the coast; but, having
once found a centre where the American plant can be profitably raised,
in Dharwar, it is advisable to work from that centre, especially in a
south-eastern and southerly direction. This spread of the growth of
American cotton has already taken place to the eastward of Dharwar,
to a considerable extent. The people in the Bellary district, and in
neighbouring parts of the Nizam's territory, have for some years grown
cotton from American seeds, and value it more highly than their native
species.
In Coimbatore, where scorching hot dry winds parch up the plains during
part of the year, and where the rainfall varies so much in different
seasons,[430] sometimes being thirty inches, and at others only seven
inches, it is perhaps doubtful whether it will ever answer to cultivate
American cotton on a large scale, yet excellent samples were obtained
from cotton raised on the farms, under the superintendence of Dr.
Wight. The attention of Sir William Denison, the present Governor of
Madras, has been chiefly directed to the improvement of native cotton,
by increasing the length of the staple, and lessening the coarseness
of the fibre. It is a well-established fact that "the best seeds make
the best breeds,"[431] and Sir William Denison proposes to select
those seeds to which the largest fibres are attached, to be used for
the next crop, and so on in each successive season, the minimum length
being increased every year. He believes that, in this way, a permanent
addition may be made to the length, and possibly to the fineness of
the fibre of the native cotton, which might thus ultimately be able to
compete in the English markets with its American rival. Mr. Haywood,
the Secretary of the Manchester Cotton Company, on the other hand,
strongly urges that attention should be given to the improvement
of American cotton. Well-directed efforts in both directions will
doubtless be rewarded.
I left Pulladom in the night, and arrived at the large village of
Dharapurum in the following morning, a distance of twenty-eight
miles. Dharapurum is on the banks of a small river, where there are
rice-fields and cocoanut-trees; for wherever there is the means of
irrigation, rice is always cultivated. Great quantities of cows and
calves swarm along the roads, and in the open spaces of the village,
where there are some fine spreading peepul-trees (_Ficus religiosa_),
one of the sacred trees of the Hindus. It has a peculiarly shaped
cordate leaf, with a long narrow acumen one-third the length of the
leaf, and yellow flowers; and it is venerated from a belief that the
god Vishnu was born amongst its branches. Potters' horses, and images
of the elephant-headed Ganesa, were placed under the trees, the objects
of worship by the villagers, who make offerings of ghee and flowers to
them. Literally "an idol under every green tree."
After leaving Dharapurum the road becomes very sandy, and passes over
a bleak open country covered with low bushes, on the frontier between
the Coimbatore and Madura collectorates. A range of mountains bounded
the view to the south. A slow jolting journey of thirty miles brought
me to the village of Pulkanooth in Madura. _Cholum_ and _lablab_
were cultivated in the surrounding fields, and from the top of a
ridge of rocks overhanging the village there is an extensive view of
open country covered with waving _cholum_, and bounded by the broken
outline of the Pulney hills. Near the village there is the ruin of a
square brick fort, with bastions at the angles, entirely overgrown
with bushes. One of the happiest signs of English rule is to be found
in the number of ruined forts scattered over the country, once the
lurking-places of brutal robbers who extorted half the crops from a
wretched peasantry, whose descendants now reap the fruits of their
labour in peace.
In taking a walk near Pulkanooth I encountered a marriage procession.
First came a man with a drum, then two more with a gong of skin
stretched on wooden hoops, then a man with a large game-cock under
his arm, then a bullock led by a woman, then four women covered with
bracelets and anklets, then a pony ridden by a boy about twelve, with
nothing on but a red turban and gold necklace and bracelets, with a
little girl about five in front, whom he clasped round the waist; then
more men and women, another drum, and lastly a small boy mounted on a
large cow. They appeared to have come from a distance, as they stopped
to rest under a peepul-tree, by the road-side.
Another night journey took me to the town of Dindigul, a pretty
little place at the foot of an isolated mass of primitive rock, whose
perpendicular sides are crowned by a dismantled fort, said to have
been erected in the days of Dupleix and French ambition, and to have
been occupied and long held by Hyder Ali of Mysore. Here the plains
are chiefly covered with _cholum_ and _cumboo_; and between the town
and the rock there is a grassy esplanade, a grove of cocoanut and
betel-palms, and a neat little temple to Ganesa. Troops of young
girls were drawing water from a tank near the esplanade. Their slight
graceful figures, supporting chatties on their heads, were perfect
models of beauty; but they had black ugly faces, flabby ear-lobes, and
large studs stuck in their noses. To be admired their backs must be
turned.
The Tamil people, who inhabit this part of India, are an exceedingly
black and ugly race, and the Brahmins are the only people who have
any pretensions whatever to fair skins. On the whole the peasantry in
the country between the Neilgherry and Pulney hills appeared to be
tolerably well off, and the country was well cultivated, considering
the unpropitious climate and poor soil. As is well known, the
people in this part of India hold their land by what is called the
_ryotwarry_ tenure, which is a settlement for the land assessment with
each individual ryot or cultivator, without the intervention of any
zemindar or renter. The land is made over to the actual cultivator,
who is regarded by the Government as the proprietor of the soil, and
the arrangement for the payment of land-tax is made directly with
him, while he receives assistance by remissions of assessment in
unfavourable seasons, and cannot be ejected so long as he pays his dues.
The land is classified as irrigated and un-irrigated, and then
according to its different degrees of fertility; and this settlement
is permanent so long as the land remains in the same condition. The
Collector of each district makes an annual tour of inspection, called
_jummabundy_, to ascertain the extent to which the Government demand
ought to be reduced, owing to particular circumstances of season; but
in ordinary times the duty of collection is intrusted to the Tahsildars
or native officials, and their subordinates the Sheristadars. These
officials, who visited me in the villages through which I passed,
appeared intelligent respectable men, and all the younger ones talked
English fluently.
Sir Thomas Munro, who was Governor of Madras from 1818 to 1827,
established the _ryotwarry_ system, and since his time the conditions
on which the ryots hold their land have been made lighter and more
advantageous. In 1837 it was enacted that there should be no increase
of land-tax on account of the growth of more valuable crops; in 1852
it was ordered that no ryot should pay an additional tax on account of
improvements made by himself, causing an increased value;[432] and,
during Lord Harris's administration, considerable reductions were made
in the land-assessment in nearly all the Madras collectorates. These
reductions, independent of the boon conferred on the people, have been
attended by the most successful results, in an increasing revenue,
and in the extension of the area of cultivation over lands which were
formerly waste.
Dindigul is about forty miles from the foot of the ghaut leading up to
the Pulney hills, and relays of bullocks were posted for me every seven
miles, with a man running in front of the cart with a blazing torch.
Passing through the village of Periacolum, round which there are many
large tanks and extensive rice cultivation, we reached the jungle at
the foot of the Pulney hills at early dawn. The path, which is only
practicable for ponies and pack-bullocks, leads up a ravine for half
the distance, and then corkscrews up the steep sides of the mountain.
The range looks very imposing from the plain, but not equal to the
Neilgherries at the foot of the Coonoor ghaut. After resting under a
clump of trees I commenced the ascent on foot, driving an unhappy sheep
before me, which was to be sacrificed on the summit, where, at this
time of the year, there are no residents, no market, and no means of
procuring any supplies.
The ascent is exceedingly beautiful, but the undergrowth is thick
grass, and the vegetation is not nearly so luxuriant as at similar
elevations on the Neilgherries. The trees are chiefly _Leguminosæ_, and
at an elevation of 3000 feet chinchonaceous plants commence, amongst
which I observed the _Hymenodictyon excelsum_. At 6000 feet the steep
ascent is covered with long grass, and trees are confined to sheltered
hollows and ravines. After reaching the plateau it is necessary to
scale a second steep grassy slope before arriving at the settlement of
Kodakarnal, which is 7230 feet above the level of the sea. Kodakarnal
consists of eight houses, built along the crests of undulating hills,
and one of the inner slopes is clothed with a wood of fine trees and
tree-ferns, from which the Tamil people have named the settlement.[433]
Round the houses there are gum-trees. _Acacia heterophylla_, _Cassia
glauca_, fruit-trees, and hedges of roses and geraniums as at
Ootacamund. The houses belong to the officials of the Madura district,
the American missionaries, a Mr. Clerk of Madras, and the French priest
of Pondicherry, who come here to recruit their healths, and for short
intervals of holiday and relaxation.
Mr. Ames, the Sub-Collector at Dindigul, had kindly given me the use of
a house which he shared with Mr. Levinge, the Collector of Madura. It
has a pleasant garden, whence there is a glorious view of the Madura
plains, with their numerous tanks glittering in the sun; and close
to the house a torrent of deliciously cold water babbles over huge
boulders of rock, and finally leaps in long falls down the face of the
cliffs, making a noise at night like the roar of the sea. The house
was in charge of a very original old native of low caste, with a large
family, named Chenatumby, who is a tolerable gardener, and cultivates
his own patch of potatoes. Chenatumby is a devoted Protestant, feels
a conscientious horror for the idolatry of the Roman Catholics, and
intends to bring up his eldest son as a half-caste, this honour being
conferred on him by the simple process of attiring him in a hat and
trousers. Old Chenatumby acted as a guide in my walks over the hills,
and was very useful.
The Pulney[434] or Varragherry hills, like the Neilgherries further
north, branch out in an easterly direction from the main line of the
western ghauts. United to a portion of the Anamallay range at their
western end, they stretch out into the Madura plains for a distance of
fifty-four miles, with a medium breadth of fifteen, and an area of 798
square miles. On the south they rise very abruptly from the plains,
presenting, near their summits, a perfect wall of gneiss; but on the
north and east they slope down in a succession of broken ridges. The
Pulneys are divided into two parts: a lower series of hill and dale to
the eastward, called Mailmullay or Kunnundaven, averaging a height of
4000 feet, and covering 231-1/2 square miles, where there are extensive
tracts of forest, some cultivation, and several villages; and a loftier
region to the westward 6000 to 7500 feet above the sea, with undulating
grassy hills and mountain-peaks, the highest of which, Permanallie,
attains an elevation of 8000 feet.
The formation is gneiss, interstratified with quartz, and traversed by
veins of felspar; and the rock is generally decayed to a considerable
depth on the plateau, and disintegrated so as to form a gritty clay. In
the eastern part the soil is a light reddish loam; but on the western
and loftier half it is very poor, being a heavy black peat several feet
thick, with a stiff and plastic yellowish clay as a sub-soil. The rains
on the Neilgherry hills have the effect of mixing the decaying grass
with the decomposed rock, and a rich soil is thus formed; but on the
plateau of the Pulneys this operation does not appear to take place,
the one becoming a black peat, and the other a stiff clayey subsoil.
These remarks, however, only apply to the interior valleys, for on
the outer slopes, overlooking the plains of Madura, there is plenty of
good soil, and magnificent forests clothe the mountains at the foot of
the perpendicular walls of gneiss which form the southern ridge of the
Pulneys.
The climate of the Pulneys, as regards temperature, very closely
resembles that of the Neilgherries. At the time of my visit, in the end
of November and beginning of December, the season was very late, though
there were thick mists and showers of rain every afternoon. This is
the time of the north-east monsoon, and the streams swell to torrents
after every shower. During the first two months in the year it is very
cold, and the ground is often covered with frost on the upper plateau.
In March there are light showers of rain, which increase during April
and May, and continue, with strong westerly winds, until October. Thus
the Pulneys are within the influence of the south-west monsoon.[435] In
June and July, the warmest months, the thermometer never falls below
50°, nor rises above 75°; and the westerly winds, with occasional rain,
continue during August and September.
The eastern part of the Pulneys, called Kunnundaven, and Poombary,
the principal village to the westward, are inhabited by people of the
Kunnuver and Karakat Vellaler castes, numbering about two thousand of
both sexes. The villages are chiefly on the lower Pulneys, and one
which I visited, called Vilputty, was surrounded by terrace cultivation
of mustard, garlic, _raggee_, and _keeree_ or amaranth. The people also
cultivate _lablab_, limes, oranges, and plantains; and I heard that in
one or two villages there were small coffee-gardens. Many low-country
natives are also settled on the Pulneys, chiefly men outlawed from
their castes; and in the more inaccessible forests are the Poliars, a
race of timid wild men of the woods. Chenatumby told me that they have
no habitations of any kind, but run through the jungle from place to
place, sleep under rocks, and live on wild honey and roots. The women
run with them, like wild goats, their children slung in rows on their
hips. The Poliars occasionally trade with the country people, who place
cotton and grain on some stone, and the wild creatures, as soon as the
strangers are out of sight, take them and put honey in their place, but
they will allow no one to come near them.
The undulating hills and valleys of the interior plateau are
covered with an aromatic grass (_Andropogon_), which grows in large
coarse tufts, like the _Stipa ychu_ in Peru; and it is not until
the young tender shoots come out that it affords good pasture for
cattle, of which there is a small herd on the hills, belonging to
American missionaries and others. The grassy slopes are dotted with
tree-Rhododendrons, Gaultherias, Osbeckias, Lobelias, the _Hypericum
Hookerianum_, and brake ferns. This upper plateau is admirably adapted
for the growth of English fruits and vegetables. In Mr. Levinge's
garden there were bushes of Fuchsias, Daturas, roses, and geraniums;
and behind the house grew peach, apple, plum, and loquot-trees,
strawberries, potatoes, green peas, and artichokes.
Where there are springs or watercourses on the higher range, there are
generally fine wooded "_sholas_" facing inwards, and very extensive
tracts of forest on the outer slopes; but the timber, especially teak
and black-wood, has been very extensively cut by the people of the
hills. I examined a _shola_ called Minmurdi-karnal near Pattoor, on the
south side, another between that and Kodakarnal, and two others, and
observed trees of the following genera:-- _Michelia_, _Cinnamomum_,
_Dodonæa_, _Millingtonia_, _Myrsine_, _Monocera_, _Symplocos_,
_Bignonia_, _Crotalaria_, _Passiflora_, _Osbeckia_, _Jasminum_,
_Hedyotis_, _Lasianthus_, _Canthium_, and _Hymenodictyon_. Tree-ferns
abound near the streams, and in some of the jungles there were trees
of enormous size. Early one morning I went with Chenatumby to see the
"pillar-rocks," three miles to the westward of Kodakarnal. They consist
of grand perpendicular cliffs descending from the grassy heights, with
their bases clothed with forest. Two of them are separated by fissures
from the main cliff, and have the appearance of gigantic columns. It
was altogether a most magnificent sight, with volumes of fleecy clouds
rolling up from the low country, and occasional peeps of the far-away
plains and glittering tanks through their folds.
The natives have long been in the habit of recklessly felling the
most valuable timber, and acres of fine _shola_ used to be annually
destroyed to make clearings for plantain and cardamom groves. For
the latter, however, only the small trees and underwood are burnt on
the Pulneys, the larger trees being left standing. But this wasteful
destruction of timber has recently been checked by the authorities,
and in 1860 Mr. Spershneider was appointed as overseer of the Pulney
forests, with a small staff, to prevent the reckless cutting of timber,
and to mark, from year to year, the trees which arrive at sufficient
maturity, and are fit to be felled.
I came to the conclusion that in several of the wooded _sholas_
the chinchona-plant might be cultivated with advantage, the _C.
Condaminea_, and other species which thrive at great elevations, on the
upper plateau, and the _C. succirubra_ in Kunnundaven. Mr. Levinge,
the Collector of Madura, takes an interest in the experiment, and Mr.
Spershneider would be willing to superintend the chinchona plantations;
so that, when the undertaking is in a sufficiently advanced stage on
the Neilgherry hills to enable Mr. McIvor to distribute plants for
cultivation in other parts of India, a number might advantageously be
sent to the Pulneys. I understand, too, that it is in contemplation
to form a Company for the cultivation of coffee on these hills,
in which case it is to be hoped that the extension of the growth
of chinchona-plants will be advanced by private enterprise, from
motives of humanity as well as with a view to successful commercial
speculation.[436]
I did not visit the Anamallay hills, to the south of Coimbatore and
westward of the Pulneys, as no planter was as yet established on
them, and a considerable time must elapse before they are prepared
for the introduction of the chinchona-plant. At the time of my visit
no bold clearer of jungles had ventured to invade the domains of the
conservators of forests on the Anamallays.
Dr. Cleghorn reports that these hills are under the influence of the
south-west monsoon, though not so much so as the Koondahs at Sispara:
but I do not find that he gives any detailed account of the amount of
moisture in the atmosphere during the winter. The soil is described
as deep and covered with rich pasture, streams of water are numerous,
there are table-lands 6000 to 7000 feet above the sea, and very
fine timber in the ravines. The three hill-tribes, called Kaders,
Poliars, and Malsars, trade in cardamoms, turmeric, ginger, honey,
wax, resins, soapnuts, and millet. Dr. Cleghorn considers that, from
the extent of forest, the resemblance of the flora to that of Ceylon,
and the altitude, the Anamallays are suitable for the cultivation of
coffee on a large scale, and for colonization of small communities of
Englishmen.[437] In this case they are also adapted for the growth
of chinchona-plants, and their introduction, which will of course
be simultaneous with the settlement of Europeans, will be the more
beneficial because the lower slopes of the Anamallays are the haunts
of fevers. The quinine-yielding trees will confer blessings on those
whose duties or interests oblige them to frequent the forests of the
Anamallays, while their cultivation will be a remunerative speculation
to the settlers on the upper plateau.