MANUAL OP THE NILAGTRI DISTRICT. 339 



their absolute title acknowledged to the entire tract of the Hills CHAP. XIII, 

 at any time depastured by their herds, and to 15 per cent. PART I. 

 "of all future produce resulting from the application of the revenue 

 capital and skill of others to the land/' or whether their rights History. 

 would be amply compensated by assigning to them " a liberal 

 compensation (as in the case of Ootacamand), which shall 

 indemnify them from all loss where their prescriptive right of 

 pasturage is infringed, and the limit of their pasture-ground 

 bond fide curtailed." They then suggest that instead of an 

 annual payment, which might bear the semblance of a rent, a 

 lump sum should be paid as compensation once for all. As 

 regards the lands in more permanent occupation of the tribes, 

 such as village sites and spots appropriated to religious rites, 

 the Government suggested that the Todas should be secured 

 from all interference, and that their absolute right in them should 

 be declared. They further requested orders on the amount of 

 compensation for lands already occupied. In the same despatch, 

 with reference to several applications by Europeans for lands on 

 the Hills, they requested orders on the right of Europeans in the 

 Company's service to hold lands, and under what restrictions ; 

 also as to the conditions to be attached to grants to Europeans 

 not in the service and to Natives. 



The reply of the Court of Directors to this reference, conveyed -the Court's 

 in their despatch of the 21st June 1843, set the questions connected i845^ge^tie8 

 with the Toda claims finally at rest. After summing up the case questions 

 they proceed as follows : — finally. 



" From a consideration of the univei-sally acknowledged rights of 



Government in respect to uncultivated lands, as well as of the peculiar 



circumstances of the case under discussion, we cannot admit the 



existence of any such proprietary rights in the soil on the part of the 



Todas as can in any way interfere with the right of Government to 



permit parties willing to pay the full assessment to bring it under 



the plough. It remains therefore to be determined whether they 



! possess a right to be compensated for the abridgment of the grazing 



; privileges which they have exercised over the lands on the Hills by 



! their gradual cultivation and enclosure, and in the event of their 



i being considered to possess such a right, on what principle the 



compensation shall be assigned to them. 



" We have already observed that the only title which can be advauced 



on the part of the Todas is that of immemorial occupation, and the 



only advantage which they have derived from their occupancy (with 



> the exception of the annual payments received from the Burghers) 



has been that of pasturing their herds. The injury which they will 



, sustain from the settlement of strangers on the Hills will consequently 



1 arise from the diminution of their pasture grounds as the lands are 



gradually brought into cultivation. It must be admitted that this 



will be a positive disadvantage to them, and that the loss of a privilege 



