360 THE NEILGHERRIES— Chap. XXII 



soon, and there the rainfall is only twelve inches from May to 

 September. During the portion of the year from October 

 to April the western parts of the hills are comparatively dry, 

 the prevalent winds are from the north-east, and the rains 

 which they bring with them from the Madras coast do not 

 extend farther west than the neighbourhood of Ootacamund. 

 Kotergherry, and the eastern parts of the hills, receive the 

 full benefit of the rains from the north-east monsoon, but 

 they are not heavy, and the rainfall at Kotergherry, in that 

 season, is thirty-eight inches. Ootacamund also gets some 

 of the rain of the north-east monsoon (thirty-six inches), 

 so that, in that central part of the plateau, there is a 

 belt which receives a moderate supply of rain throughout the 

 year. In January and December there are frosts in the 

 night, and the extreme radiation which goes on in the valleys 

 causes great cold at sunrise ; but these frosts are confined to 

 the valleys in the upper plateau, and they never visit the 

 higher slopes, or the Avell-wooded " sholas." 



The climates of the Neilgherry hills are the most delight- 

 ful in the world ; and it may be said of this salubrious region, 

 with its equable seasons, what the Persian poet said of Kung, 

 "the warmth is not heat, and the coolness is not cold."^ On 

 the open plateau, in the wooded sholas, and in the thick 

 forests of the lower slopes, there is a great variety of beautiful 

 flowering trees and shrubs ; and the vegetation of the lulls is 

 both varied and luxuriant. First, in the brilliant splendour of 

 its flowers, must be mentioned the tree rhododendron (Rhodo- 

 dendron arhoreum), which is very common in all parts of the 

 hills, either forming small thickets or dotted about on the 

 grassy slopes. It grows to a height of twenty feet, with a 

 gnarled stunted trunk, and masses of deep crimson flowers. 

 In the " sholas " are the Michelia nilagiraca, a large tree, with 

 yollowish-wliite fragrant flowers of great size ; the Symplocos 



•* Fordosi. 



