04 



MANUAL OF THE NILAGIPJ DISTRICT. 



PART III. 



CHAP. IV, 

 PART III. 



Wellington. 



Medical 



Report on 



Climate, &c. 



Position of 

 Wellington. 



Approach 

 from the 

 plains. 



WELLINGTON. 



(Extracts from a report furnished hy Surgeon-Major W. H. Corbett, Army Medical 

 Department, in Medical charge of Convalescent Depot, to the Surgeon-General, 

 British Medical Service.) ^ 



Description of the Hills. — Approach from the plains. — Topography. — Geology. — 

 Botany, table productions and vegetation. — Seasons. — Meteorology. — Ozone. 

 — CUmate, and its influence on health. —Places to be visited. — Period for visit- 

 ing the Hills. — Precautions to be taken. — Those who benefit. — Those who do 

 not benefit. — Barracks. — Cantonment. — Sanitary condition. — The bazaar. — 

 Water-supply. — Commissariat supplies. — Amusements. —Duties of the troops. — 

 Mortality and sickness. 



The station of Wellington, which is the Convalescent Depot for 

 the British troops in the jMadras Presidency, is in the Peranganad 

 Division of the Nilagiri District, and lies in latitude 11° 5' 

 northj and longitude 77^ 5" east, with an area of 446 acres, or 

 nearly two square miles, and a native population of 1,567. It is 

 6,100 feet above the level of the sea, situated on a spur running 

 to the south-east from the Doddabetta or middle range of 

 mountains, is well sheltered, only partially exposed to the mon- 

 soons, and well ^^dapted from situation for a sanitarium. It is 

 bounded on the north by the Doddabetta mountain, which is 

 8,760 feet above sea-level, and is sheltered by it partially from 

 the south-west monsoon ; on the south by Coonoor, two miles 

 distant, from which it is separated by a deep ravine ; on the 

 east by Kotagiri, 13 miles distant ; and on the west by a spur 

 of the Doddabetta range stretching towards Kateri. 



These hills are easily and speedily accessible from the three 

 presidencies. A line of rail runs to Mettapollium within six miles 

 of the foot of the Hills, to the south-east. Here there is a good 

 hotel for travellers and a rest-house with the following accom- 

 modation : 3 rooms — one holding 6 men, or 3 families, a middle 

 room holding 10 men, or 5 families, and an end room holding 6 

 men, or 3 families ; and 3 European soldiers' tents, in which, for 

 the short time they may be occupied, the Rest-house Superin- 

 tendent has authority to place 42 men. Troops halt here during 

 the day. The married portion and baggage-guard leave in the 

 evening and come up the long ghdt, a distance of 24 miles, 

 with a gradual ascent, not exceeding 1 foot in 18 or 20. This 

 party should always be provided with torches, as it is difficult 

 to prevent their being the greater portion of the night on the 

 road. The remaining portion leave at midnight and come up 



' Portions of this paper have been omitted which contained information 

 furnished elsewhere or were otherwise unsuited to a paper of this description. 



