MANUAL OF THE NILAGIIil DlSTRirT. 349 



on land in Ootacamand at 5^ rupees per cawuie was bold to ap]>ly CHAP. xiii. 

 to the whole of the Meluad, or the uplands of the Todandd, and I'AKT]!. 

 he urged that an adherence to this rate would inevitably drive Kkvenuk 

 stock and capital to the waste lands of the middle plateau of the History. 

 Hills, where the average assessment did not exceed a half-rupee 

 per cawnie. " This question is one of importance/' he writes, 

 " because from the great advantages which the Hills possess in 

 soil, command of water, and certainty of seasons, they are capable 

 of supporting a very large population, and of administering in 

 seasons of scarcity to the wants of the country below. It is the 

 interest therefore of Government, in the lai'gest sense of the term, 

 to encourage the investment of capital in their cultivation, and 

 that will best be done by extending the assessment which was 

 fixed thirty years ago upon the lands of the three great divisions 

 to the Malnaad. *=}:** The land within the canton- 

 ment (Ootacamand) and beyond it is occupied indiscriminately 

 by Europeans, East Indians, and Natives, and it is obvious that 

 there must be one assessment for all, or they to whom advantages 

 are given will drive others out of the market.''' The force of 

 this objection is borne out by the fact that six years later it was 

 ascertained that no less than fifteen estates had been acquired by 

 purchase from Badagas in the Coimbatore portion of the Hills near 

 Kotagiri and Coonoor, aggregating some 800 acres, unsecured 

 by a Government grant ; whilst in the Malabar portion of the 

 plateau it does not appear that a single estate was formed during 

 that period. 



Mr. Sullivan, however, shortly afterwards somewhat modified —Mr. Sulli- 

 his views, and in his minute written in the month of August pronosed 

 in the same year he suggested that lands situated at a certain changes. 

 distance from the cantonment of Ootacamand should be assessed 

 according to the standard prevailing in the nearest Badaga village ; 

 but as regards the lands within the cantonment he observes, " con- 

 sidering that the land in Ootacamund is stated to be of the richest 

 'description, and capable, when worked, of producing as rich 

 crops as are to be seen in any part of the world,' and, as already 

 stated, a market is at hand for produce, an assessment for lands 

 of the first class of double the amount which is now paid for the 

 same class in the Burgher villages, or Kupees 7 per bullah, or 

 Rupees 2-5-4 per cawnie, would be a very moderate charge ; an 

 increase of one-third might be made on lands of the second, of 

 one-half upon the third, and of one-fourth upon the fourth class, 

 beyond which it would not probably be necessary to go in the 

 classification." 



A year later we find the Board of Revenue approving generally 

 of Mr. Sullivan's proposals, though raising no objections to the 

 suggestions of the Collector of Malabar that the assessment on 



