MANUAL OP THE NILAQIRI DISTRICT. O 



known to sportsmen as bear-hill. The highest hill to the west is CHAP. i. 

 probably N^dgdni ; the Sisapdra Peak is however the most Generai, 

 interesting feature in the western region. On the eastern slope of Description. 

 these hills rise the chief tributaries of the Kunda river ; on the 

 western and southern, the chief feeders of the Bhavanf and 

 the Nellambiir rivers. The Kunda peaks, owing to their exposure 

 to the full violence of the south-west monsoon and the poorness 

 of the soil, are but sparingly covered with vegetation. Such trees 

 and shrubs as exist within the hollows shew, by their gnarled and 

 rugged appearance, how severe the struggle for life has been. 



On the southern side of the hills the principal eminences are —to the South 

 Melkunda (6,923 feet) overlooking the Bhavani Valley, Devashola ^^^ ^^^*^- 

 (7,416 feet), half way between it and Doddabetta, and still nearer 

 to Ootacamand, Chinna Doddabetta, which rises behind the 

 Lawrence Asylum to the height of 7,848 feet. To the south 

 and south-east of Ootacamand the principal hills needing mention 

 are Kateri and Kolakambe (5,600 feet), HulikaP Drug (about 

 6,000 feet), and on the opposite side of the gorge the Coonoor 

 Peak (6,893 feet). Two or three miles north of Coonoor^ stands 

 Ktindamugi, round the eastern face of which the road to 

 Kotagiri passes; and on the approach to Kotagiri, a short 

 distance to the north, is seen Dimhatti Hill, or Urbetta (6,903 — 

 6,915 feet, G. T. S.), at the foot of which the old Sanitarium stood. 

 Some ten or twelve miles to the north of Kotagiri is the Kodanad 

 Hill (6,740 feet), and, at a still greater distance, to the east is 

 Rangasami's Peak (5,937 feet), a very conspicuous hill of a conical 

 shape, dedicated to the god Rangasami. To the north-west of 

 Kotagiri, at almost an equal distance from it and Ootacamand, is 

 Kukalbetta (7,160 feet). Nearly due north of Ootacamand, over- —to the 

 hanging the Moyar Valley, is the quaint shaped hill known as 

 Chinna Coonoor, and about a mile to the west the Segur, or 

 Konabetta Peak (6,777 feet). Further away to the west at the 

 head of the Segiir Pass stands Muttinad-betta, and beyond it 

 Ibex hill, a blufF-like eminence, the last hill needing special 

 mention. 



Only three rivers of any importance have their source in the Streams. 

 Nilagiris — the Moyar, the Chinna or Sur-Bhavani, and the Beypur 

 river, but the streams which help to form these rivers are very 

 numerous. The Moyar rises at Mukarte and flows in a north- 

 easterly direction, under the appellation of the Paikare. This 

 river is remarkable among hill streams for its long reaches or pools 



^ Hiili (Kara.), a tiger, kal (Karn.), a rock or stone. 



^ Kun (Tam.), crookedness, a humpcd-back ; and ur, village. The meaning 

 may also more properly be " The village on the little hill " or " The little village." 

 See note on derivation of K6nda. 



