MANUAL OF THE NiLAGIRl DISTRICT. 281 



whicli was sanctioned. He also asked for and obtained Eupees 300 CHAP. XII. 



to make the path to the Hills more accessible, observinf^ that r^^t 



if this were not done, the revenue, which had been gradually History. 



diminishing, would in a short time waste to nothing, for the 



ryots pay as they please, their position rendering them *' quite 



secure from any coercive measures." The formation of the road 



was entrusted to Mr. Macpherson in command of a party 



of pioneers, and to the same officer the survey of the lands. 



The road was reported as completed on 23rd May 1823. This 



was the old Srimugai Pass, which preceded the Kotagiri Pass 



first cut by Mr. Thomas.^ 



The hills meanwhile were attracting attention, and we find that 

 by June 1820 upwards of twenty gentlemen had visited the 

 plateau, and one lady, name unknown, " without any inconvenience 

 to herself and without giving particular trouble to the bearers "\ 

 A long and interesting letter was published in the Madras 

 Gazette, 17th June 1820, containing extracts from the letters of 

 M. Leschenault, Botanist to the King of France, on the region, its 

 people and its vegetation ; and contemporaneously a report written 

 by Mr. Macpherson, printed in the appendix, was forwarded to 

 Government, who appear to have passed on to the Governor- 

 General these and other papers, for in the Gazette of India very 

 shortly afterwards appears the following notice : — 



" We trust that future reports of the salubrity of this spot will Attention of 

 remove all the apprehensions that have been entertained, and that it Qeneral 

 will become a place of resort for those whose state of health may drawn to the 

 require that change of temperature which it unquestionably affords, f'^ilis- 

 Should a continued residence in these regions prove that the climate 

 is favorable to the European constitution, it may perhaps be deemed 

 expedient hereafter to form a military establishment for pensioners 

 and invalids, with a regular hospital ; and if it should become a 

 military station, with Medical Officers attached to it, houses would 

 Boon become erected, and conveniences would be provided for those who 

 might be compelled to seek the benefit of the climate ; and, in all 

 probability, many persons on the coast, who have withdrawn from 

 active life, but who do not intend to return to their native country, 

 would take up their future residence on the Nilgherry Mountains." 



In his letter forwarding Lieutenant Macpherson^s report, Mr. 

 Sullivan urged on Government the desirability of employing on 

 the new road the prisoners of Coimbatore and Salem, as labor 

 could not be had on the hills or from Coimbatore, remarking 

 that, as there was only one path and " the country on either side 

 so rugged and steep that no prisoner would dare deviate from it, 

 a sentinel therefore at the top and bottom of the pass would be 



1 Jekvis, p. 134. 



36 



