186 Dr Wilson's Jccount of a Visit to the Fulls on the 



Near Garsapa [^are the ruins of an ancient town, which our 

 time did not permit us to examine. We started early next 

 morning, and commenced the ascent of the Mahkali Ghat, which, 

 except in a few places, we did not find so difficult as we expect- 

 ed. The forest, which consists of the most lofty trees, on which 

 we observed many troops of monkeys, of the species entellus, 

 sporting themselves, is on each side of the path dense and im- 

 pervious. From an eminence, where, for a few yards, there is 

 an open space, and where travellers generally halt for a httle, the 

 view is so magnificent, that a description of it in the plainest 

 prose would have all the effect of the most elevated poetry. 



The rocks which we noticed on our way were principally of 

 itiica-slate and unmixed hornblende, as at Haliali, at which we 

 concluded our march for the day, of sixteen miles. On the 

 trees and bushes near the bungalow in which we were sheltered, 

 we observed many birds, principally of the passerine order, which 

 were new to us. Among these, the Pla7iicornis princeps par- 

 ticularly attracted our attention, by its glossy black and brilliant 

 scarlet colours, and its dazzling flittering in the sun. In our 

 neifhbourhood there were some gardens of a considerable size, 

 and well watered, for the rearing of betel-nut trees and pepper 

 vines, to which they aff'ord support, and which twist around them. 

 They yield a good produce, and belong to Haiga Brahmans, the 

 most important agricultural class of men in that part of the 

 country. They seem to me to correspond with the Bhatelas 

 of Gujarat, who, though probably not originally of the priestly 

 order, had their present status conferred upon them as an in- 

 ducement to their acceptance of Hinduism. Those with whom 

 we conversed have the Canarese language vernacular to them, 

 and only a slight knowledge of Hindustane. The only charac- 

 ter which they read, is the Devanagari. 



On the morning of the 16th February we started for the 

 Falls. Our road was in a south-east direction, and lay through 

 a beautiful country, containing many cultivated fields, and cor- 

 rectly described by Dr Christie* as " combining the majestic 

 •appearance of a tropical forest with the softer character of an 



* Jameson's Journal for September 1828. 



