MANUAL OF THE nIlAQIRI DISTRICT. G5 



the short ghat, a distance of nine miles. They are conveyed by CIiAr. iv, 

 transit to Kalar, from which place those able are expected to PART ill. 

 inarch. This arrangement I do not altogether think for the best, Wellington. 

 as the men arrive at Kalar, which is in the midst of a low swampy Medical 

 jungle with bad water and filled with malarious exhalations, at clui^xe, &c. 

 the most trying time to the constitution, from sun-set to sun-rise. 



The road up the ghdt runs from east to west. On the first 

 portion of the ascent the bamboo grows in abundance, shelteriiig 

 the road. On going higher, one observes the indigenous forest 

 trees, among which are conspicuous the teak, of an inferior 

 quality, the blackwood, which is useful for furniture, and takes 

 a handsome polish, the sal, wild jack, and vengay. Vengay 

 is a superior timber considered by some equal to teak, and from 

 it the bridges throughout the ghdt are made. Lastly, the red 

 and white cedars, the woods of which are suitable for building 

 or making furniture. These trees are conspicuous for their great 

 girth, j^bout two-thirds up the ghdt it is a pleasing relief to 

 meet a resting-place, known as the " Toll-bar.'^ Here coffee is 

 provided for troops coming up. It is well shaded, and a perennial 

 spring of clear water flows close by. The ascent from Metta- 

 pollium to Coonoor is about 4,500 feet. 



The barracks are in a slight hollow bounded by high moun- Topograpliy. 

 tains and extensive ravines. They were built in 1852 and 1853. 

 The station was then called Jackatalla after a neighbouring Badaga 

 village, which name the ravine to the north still retains. The 

 site was chosen by the Marquis of Tweeddale in 1847. Much of 

 the country surrounding the station is undulating, but broken 

 by ravines and rugged hills. To the west of the barracks is a 

 ravine which extends towards the south and through which there 

 is a bridle-path to the Wellington bazaar ; to the north and west 

 are the married quarters, and, almost due north, the hospital. 

 The natural drainage of the plateau is good. There are numbers 

 of private residences, conspicuous among which is the house of 

 the Commandant, about 200 feet above the barracks to the 

 eastward. On all sides mountain streams and brooks flow and 

 empty themselves into ravines to the north-west and south. 



There are no gheels, marshes, lakes, or rivers of any extent in 

 the vicinity of Wellington. The principal stream flows along the 

 south-west of the cantonment below the 7iiarried quarters. It 

 drains the eastern side of Doddabetta range, and is joined near the 

 Wellington bazaar by a stream of fair size flowing from the north. 

 These together form the Kancunthure river, and pass down under 

 the Coonoor bridge, where also another considerable stream which 

 rises in the south and east of the cantonment after passing 

 through the race-course joins it. It is also joined by other streams, 

 which pour down in every direction, along the Coonoor ghdt, 



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