Chap. XXII. GOVERNMENT GARDENS. 371 



and settle on land of their own, with their families, subject to 

 the condition of being liable to be called on to serve if re- 

 quired, and a sort of military colony might thus be formed. 

 There is excellent pasture for flocks of sheep, wheat may 

 be grown in any quantity, and there is not the slightest 

 danger to Europeans in undertaking field labour. 



The English settler on the Neilgherries will find English 

 fruits, flowers, vegetables, and grasses, the introduction of which 

 is mainly due to the exertions of Mr. William G. Melvor, the 

 Superintendent of the Government gardens at Ootacamund, 

 and now also Superintendent of Chinchona plantations in 

 Southern India. This gentleman has been in charge of the 

 gardens at Ootacamund since 1848, and unites zeal, intel- 

 ligence, and skill to the talent and experience of an excellent 

 practical gardener. Under his auspices the steep slopes of 

 one of the spurs, which run off from the peak of Dodabetta, 

 and overlook the cantonment of Ootacamund, have been 

 converted into a tastefully laid-out garden, in a succession of 

 terraces. Hampered at first by the interference of a useless 

 committee, and "with no assistance beyond that of an East 

 Indian foreman and labourers from the Mysore plains, he 

 has succeeded in changing the wild mountain-sides into a 

 very beautiful public garden. Every point of view is taken 

 advantage of with admirable taste, and numerous trees and 

 flowering shrubs have been introduced from England, Aus- 

 tralia, and other coimtries, while the native flora of the hills 

 is fully represented. There are English roses and gera- 

 niums, ponds bordered by white arums, shady walks over- 

 arched by trellis-work, tasteful vases tilled with showy 

 flowers, thickets of rhododendrons, hedges of heliotrope and 

 fuchsia, fine clumps of tall spreading trees, and, from the upper 

 terraces, between the leafy branches, there are glorious views 

 of the Ootacamund valley, and of the finely broken range of 

 the distant Koondah hills. 



2 B 2 



