18 A HOPELESS TRACT. 



heights. The tanks could be filled once or twice a-year from the Lutch- 

 menteert, and, the upper cultivation being abandoned, the sides of the valley 

 would not be pervaded with moisture. The breezes would be more healthy, 

 and the villages cultivating the land below the tanks would be above the 

 level of the dampness, and some portion of the former salubrity of the place 

 would be restored. As long as water is kept running at a high level and 

 drenching the soil, the bottom of the jungle-encumbered valley must be 

 inimical to human life. 



The land below the high-level channels has, however, been largely 

 reclaimed during the past ten years. The cultivators live in Hoonsoor and 

 adjacent villages, not in the tract itself, only visiting it for the purpose of 

 cultivation. The low grounds in the valley are given up to the grazing of 

 the Commissariat cattle at Hoonsoor, and this is the best use, perhaps, they 

 can now be put to. These grazing grounds are essential in different places 

 over the country, and there is usually enough cultivable land available 

 without invading them. 



