124 FLORA INDICA. 



.umi 



here. It attains its greatest elevation to the southward, and 

 is broken up, by considerable depressions, into two or more 



jparate 



Travancor 



continued 



Nagar 



Travancor. — The mountains of Travancor form an iso- 

 lated mass at the extreme south of Malabar, which they se- 

 parate from the districts of Tinnevelly and Madura, in the 

 Southern Carnatic. They are completely cut off from the 

 mountains on the north (Nilghiri) by a remarkable depres- 

 sion, in 11° N. lat., which is fifteen miles wide, and is oc- 

 cupied by the western portion of the district of Coimbator. 

 The Travancor group of mountains thus presents a striking 

 analogy to the island of Ceylon in position and outline. The 

 main chain rims southward for 150 miles to Cape Comorin, 

 with occasional deep depressions, and terminates in a bold 

 precipitous mass, 3-4000 feet high, within three miles of the 

 Cape itself. The Travancor mountains are loftiest at the ex- 

 treme north of the district, where they stretch east and west 

 for sixty to seventy miles, separating the districts of Dindigal 

 and Madura, and rising into peaks of 8-9000 feet, which 

 overhang the plain of Coimbator ; and they retain an elevation 

 of 5-6000 feet throughout their extent to the southward. 



They are generally 



feet. 



occurrence at 6-7000 

 rtavra* the Travancor 



communications 



ch it divides, that of Courtalam, in 9° N. lat., * 

 botanical station, which, though on the eastern 



Carnatic side, from its peculiar form and situation, is under 

 the influence of the south-west monsoon, and enjoys, togethei 

 with the rest of the province, a deliriously cool and equable 

 climate. Notwithstanding the perennial humidity, the rain- 

 fall at Courtalam is only 40 inches; on the hills around, 

 however, it is doubtless much greater. The Pulney or PWBM 



