Chap. XXV. CAROOR. 429 



studded with palm-groves on our right, tlie tall towers of 

 Seringam^ appeared rising above the trees which border the 

 waters of the Cauvery ; and near the town there are large 

 plantain-groves. In leaving Trichinopoly on the road to the 

 Neilgherries it is necessary to cross a small affluent of the 

 Cauvery in ferry-boats. Those for foot-passengers are of 

 wicker covered with liides, and perfectly round, like those 

 which are described by Herodotus, and are still used on the 

 Tigris and Euphrates. After jolting all night through end- 

 less groves of banyan and peepul trees, I reached Caroor,^ the 

 ancient capital of the Chira Eajahs, the following morning. 

 The Chira state, in the days of its prosperity, extended over 

 Coimbatore, and })ai-t of Mysore and Malabar. Caroor is a 

 town of some size, in the middle of a plain, through which 

 flows the river Amaravati, a tributary of the Cauvery. Mr. 

 Roberts, the Sub-Collector, was living in a curious upper 

 story, on the top of a pagoda, the entrance to which leads 

 under a tall brick gopuram, ^Q feet high, 64 feet long at the 

 base, and 52 feet broad, sculptured with images exactly on 

 the pattern of those at Madura. The country between Caroor 

 and the foot of the Neilgherries is flat and uninteresting, 

 chiefly cultivated with cholum, cumhoo, cotton, and a few 

 pulses, with rice in some places. The road is execrable, and 

 generally lined with banyan-trees, which, though affording 

 pleasant shade, are ungainly and ugly, owing to the numerous 

 bunches of dusty-looking roots, which hang in all directions 

 from the branches. On arriving at Matepoliem I found a 

 pony waiting, and, riding up the Coonoor ghaut, returned to 

 Ootacamund. Half-way up the ghaut, at a place called Bur- 

 lear, Mr. Thomas, the Collector of Coimbatore, has a small 

 but interesting garden, containing all kinds of spices, cacao, 

 coffee and tea plants, besides oranges, lemons, and citrons. 



5 The largest temple in Southern I " From Kar, black, and ur a town, ! 

 India, next to that of INIadura. in Tamil. 



