October i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



315 



0U3 here, and the *-"ociety, I believe, intend to bring 

 a tract under cultivation wlieu they Oud themselves 

 able to do so But the Travancire Government 

 claim a considerable share of this crop by virtue of 

 a monopoly they exercise, and it is doubtful whether 

 systematic cnliivation with European superintendence 

 would under these circumstances leave a large margin 

 for profit. But this Alunaar couutry is no doubt the 

 place for tea, and not only within the Society's bound- 

 aries, but all along in the adjacent country known 

 as the Chengamunad forests, comprizing probably 

 100,000 acres of virgin forest, I do not supjwse 

 there is any better tea land in the world than this, 

 and, if the I'ravaucore sovereign were disposed lo have 

 it opened out, I believe it would Ijriug enormous 

 wealth to his country. Steamers would run from 

 Cochin straight to London, and this port is no great 

 distance from the country I am writing about. I'he 

 Society is selling land here at R'25 an acre. 



Starting again from Devicolum, a rough path, 14 

 miles, leads to the Talleai district, elevation 4,000 feet 

 and upwards, where, as some critics contend, the finest 

 land is to be found. This is a deep valley facing 

 the east, protected on the west by a semicircular 

 range of mountains 7,000 to 8,000 feet higli. The 

 Society have opened 300 acres here, and a private 

 company is opening up a block, while applications 

 for other blocks are daily coming in. The price of 

 land here is stated to be K30 an acre. A path has been 

 opened out from Talliar to the Coinibatore district, 

 distant some 30 miles, and this is a great convenience 

 for planters in this district, as it obviatts a long port- 

 age of goods across the hills from Devicolum. It re- 

 quires but a very little improvement on the road to 

 enable carts to come within fifteen miles of the 

 Talliar valley. 



As a new planting district, the Kannan Devan hills 

 merit the attention of planters. It certainly possesses 

 many advantages over such as Burma, Borneo, and 

 the Straits. Labour is cheap and inexhaustible ; the 

 proximity of the districts of Madura and Tinnevelly 

 guarantee this. The suitabdity of the soil for planters' 

 products is established by the success of the Society's 

 openings. The salubrity of the climate can be vouched 

 for bj' the manager, Mr. A. W. Turner of Devicolum, 

 who has not had any fever himself, nor have his 

 European assistants had it, nor yet his coolies, and he 

 haa now been there upwards of four j-ears, In Talliar, 

 however, there is some suspicion of fever, as you get 

 low down. On the other hand roads are not in ex- 

 istence and no cart can yet get into the country. 

 Consequently there is some diffieulty about supplies ; 

 land is getting scarce, therefore dearer, every year, 

 but there is no trouble or delay about getting a title 

 which can be procured at theSocietv's office at Devi- 

 colum. i-TAPLEGROVE. 



"TRAVELLING IN NEW CEYLON" 



(NORTH BORNEO) : BY AN EX-CEYLON 



PLANTER. 



Pappar, June 20th, 1SS2. 

 Dear Sir, — A short account of a trip I have just 

 returned from, inland, may be amusing to your read- 

 ers, as it will give them some idea of the inland of 

 Borneo, which at present is very little known. 

 I left here in a boat with 20 natives as guides and 

 baggage-carriers, and was paddled up this river, which 

 is very pretty, and its banks will no doubt before 

 long be more thickly populated than they are at 

 present. Some distance up the river was free of 

 all obstacles, but shortly after passing a small vil- 

 lage called Conquot rlie rapids began, which made 

 our passage rather slow. 1 "as informed tliat a chief 

 called Tahan lived here whom I was anxious to, see, 

 he having been Mr. Dobree's pilot about this part of 



the country ; however I thought it better to push on' 

 and make his ncqaaiulance on my return. We 

 reached our destination about 4 o'clock— earlier than 

 I anticipated — and found iwo little huts erected by 

 Government in which we put up for the night. Early 

 next morning we commenced our march inland, our 

 track taking us through chena, but there were no signs of 

 inhabitants. After crossing several rivers we arrived at 

 the foot of the mountain range and put up in a 

 comfortable little hut erected a few days previou.-ly, 

 which kept us quite dry and snug, while it 

 rained cats and dngs out.'ide. Next day we com- 

 menced our ascent of the mountain rang'-, which was 

 rather hard woik to the men who were carrying loads. 

 We, however, reached the top 4,500 and descended to 

 2,500 on the other s-ide, where we made a little k-af 

 hut beside a ravine and stopped that night, N'-xt 

 morning I woke feeling rather cold, and found a heavy 

 dew falling, and was glad to he on the move. The 

 soil in parts was very rich and generally of a fair 

 nature. Arrived at a river below I was able to obtain 

 a view of the land we had been descending through, 

 and noticed several small native clearmgs, which I 

 had not previously seen. I met a Dusuu on his way 

 to Pappar with a load of gutta, and was much interested 

 in the coat he wore, it being made out of the bark 

 of a certain tree. It appeared strong but coarse. It 

 would, I was informed, last for 5 years, but did lu-t 

 stand washing. He was smoking a pipe which he 

 made himself, and his tobacco did not smell or look 

 at all bad. From the river 2,200 we began to ascend, 

 and our path during the day was mostly at that 

 elevation, but towards evening we descended and put 

 up in a native house, tlie elevation being 2,650. The 

 roof I noticed was made of split bamboo put on in 

 the same fashion as tiles and appeared to act very 

 well. Previous to arriving at the house I had noticed 

 a small forge where two men were busy making 

 tools out of old iron. The owner of the house received 

 us moat kindly. These houses are generally constructed 

 with an enclosed verandah, from which there are 

 doors lending into the several compartments. We all 

 made ourselves comfortable in the verandah, there 

 being the usual curiosity among the occupants to see 

 the white man who had been the first to visit their 

 village. Next morning we were delayed in starting, 

 waiting for guides ; these men were not, however, of 

 much use to lis, as the next village they came to they 

 wanted to eat a meal, but, as I had already been 

 delayed an hour, I decided to leave them and push on 

 by ourselves. A rather difficult river had to be 

 crossed, and then our track led for some distance 

 along ii;s hanks. I w.is rather startled, when walking 

 through the chena which lined the lianks, to see my 

 men all of a sudden going down like ninepins in 

 front of me. I soon saw the cause : a huge wild buffa;o 

 had charged them, but fortunately changed his course 

 before coming to me. A short time after we came 

 across a party of native sportsmen, who, it appeared, 

 were on his track, with a few miserablelonking' 

 dogs, but which from their snapping bark app>-ared to 

 have some idea of scent. After wishing them good 

 luck, we passed on and came suddenly on a party of 

 thirty men all armed to the teeth with epears, blow- 

 pipes and creeses and coats made of rhinoceros hide. 

 On enquiring I was informed they were going to have 

 a conference with another tribe. At first we were 

 both rather reserved, but, as our road appeared the 

 same as theirs, we soon got communicative, and at 

 night we all camped down together. Men were put 

 on at once, and before balf-an-houi- a house was 

 made out of bamboo and coiled cardaiiom leaves large 

 enough for us .all, now numbering close on 50. The 

 flioriug was also made from split liamboo. resembl- 

 ing cane matting, and which method I had not be- 

 fore Been. I secured one end of th house and made 



