144 PROPOSAL TO VISIT KERRI. 



varieties in Mysore, especially one kind I have not 

 seen elsewhere; it is very large, i)iiik inside (Musa 

 paradisiaca), and has a delicious flavoui-, — there are 

 others again that are only fit for cooking. 



These hills abound in picturesque aspects, secluded 

 spots crowded with ferns, trees covered with orchids 

 and interlaced by creepers of every variety, hardly 

 admitting a peep of the blue sky overhead, and in 

 their midst a little brook disputing the passage ; 

 beyond broad terraces, one above the other, with 

 water trickling down in pearly threads, setting off 

 the fresh emerald green of a rich crop of rice which 

 requires much care in its irrigation, for there is not 

 a more thirsty plant in existence excepting the water- 

 lily and others purely aquatic. 



One day the dhory proposed riding over to Kerri, 

 so called after the Canarese for a " tank " which 

 exists at the extreme end of this, his other estate, 

 some eight miles distant. I readily assented, and we set 

 off before sunrise next morning, both being well 

 mounted, he on a Waler and I on a stout Pegu pony, but 

 never did I experience so short a distance occupying- 

 so much time on horseback. Our road or path led 

 principally up and down hill, occasionally through 

 swampy paddy fields, fording rivers and scrambling 

 over thick jungle. The air was deliciously cool and 



