890 



COONOOR GHAUT. 



Chap. XXIV. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



JOURNKY TO THE PULNEY HILLS. 



Coonoor ghaut — Coimliatore — Pulladom — Cotton cultivation — Dharapurum 

 — A marriage procession — Dincligul — Ryotwarry teniu'e — Pulney liills — 

 Kodakarnal — Extent of the Pulneys — Formation — Soil — Climate — In- 

 habitants — Flora — SiiitabiLity for chinchona cultivation — Forest conser- 

 vancy — AnamaUay hills. 



In the end of November I set out from Ootacamiind, by way 

 of the Coonoor ghaut and Coimbatore, with the intention of 

 examining the suitability of the Puhiey hills in Madura for 

 chinchona cultivation. The Coonoor ghaut, on the southern 

 side of the Neilgherry hills, leads down into the plain of 

 Coimbatore. The road is good, though much too steep ever 

 to make a convenient means of carriage traffic, and the 

 scenery is exceedingly fine. The deep gorge has forest- 

 covered mountains on the left, and a grand range of cliffs on 

 the right, crowned by the bold peak of the Hoolicul Droog. 

 There are few districts in India without some local tradition 

 respecting the five Pandus,^ the great mythical heroes of 

 ancient Hindoo history, and the Hoolicul Droog is not without 

 one. It is said that the fort on the summit of the Droog was 

 inliabited by a rakslii or giant named Pukasooren, who levied 

 a tribute on the people of the plains, in the shape of a cart- 

 load of provisions daily. When he had eaten the provisions 



^ In the Mahahliarata the five 

 Panchis, who contended witli the 100 

 Kmus or vices, were — Yiichsthira, the 

 personification of modesty ; and his 

 brotliers Arjuna, or courage ; Bhima, 

 or strength ; Nakal, or beautv : and 



Sahadeva, or harmony. Tlie conversa- 

 tion between Arjuna and the incar- 

 nate deity Elrishna, in the Bluujavat 

 Gita, an episode in the Mahahliarata, 

 is perhaps the finest passage in the 

 whole range of Sanscrit literature. 



