126 FLORA INDICA. 



The monsoon is so checked by the great elevation and 

 breadth of this range, that its east flank partakes much of 

 the climate of Mysore, many plants of that country ascend- 

 ing almost to the crest of the chain, which is therefore, as 

 Gardner informs us, wholly unsuited to the growth of Coffee. 



The ravines and shady slopes near the undulating summits 

 of the Nilghiri hills are occupied by thickets of small trees 

 and bushes, like those of Ceylon, but probably composed of a 

 greater number of species, all of which are equally character- 

 istic of similar situations in the Khasia, as Ternstrcemiacea, 

 Michelia, Symplocos, Photinia, Ilex, Eugenia, Vaccinium, 

 Gaultheria, Myrsinea, Rhododendron arboreum, Pittosporum, 

 Laurineee, with Rubies, Cotoneaster, Desmodium, Jasminum, 

 Euonymus, Indigofera, Daphne, Euphorbiaceae , Antidesmea, 

 Willow, Melastomacece, and a vast number of others. Of 

 forms that do not extend to Ceylon, are Willow, Gnetum, Vi- 

 burnum, Lonicera, Rosa. Balsams attain their maximum in 

 the Nilghiri and Travancor mountains ; and amongst Euro- 

 pean forms are Alchemilla, Potentilla, Gentianea, and Labiate* 

 Agrimonia, however, which is found both in the temperate 

 parts of India and in Ceylon, is absent from the Nilghiri. 



Nagar. — Of this district, which lies to the north of Kurg, 

 comparatively little is known ; politically it belongs to Mysore, 

 but its climate and vegetation appear to be identical with 

 that of Malabar. For the most part it consists of rounded 

 or table-topped hills, 4-5000 feet in mean elevation, often 

 cultivated to that height, and rising in some places to upwards 

 of 6000 feet, the portion called Bababuden Hills being said 

 to be 5700 feet. As with all other parts of the chain, the 

 climate of the western parts is excessively humid : the rams 

 at the town of Nagar (or Bednor), elevated 4000 feet on a 

 spur to the westward of the chain, are said to last for nine 

 months, during six of which they are so heavy that the in- 

 habitants cannot leave their houses. The eastern parts again 

 are more level, and drier, and resemble other districts o 

 Mysore. 



