378 MANUAL OF THE NILAGIRI DISTRICT. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

 MUNICIPALITIES AND STATIONS. 



The four Settlements. — Description of Ootacamand — area and population — limits of 

 the Municipality— elevation — Municipal Commission — receipts and expenditure — 

 sanitation— market — public buildings— the gardens— hotels— rents— early sketch. 

 — Coonoor — description — area— municipal limits — elevation— Municipal Commis. 

 eion— receipts and expenditure— public buildings — population — hotels and rents.— 

 Wellinffton—descTiT^tion, &c. — Koiagiri — description. 



CHAP. XVII. There are on the Hills four stations — Ootacamand, situated on 

 MUNICIPAL!- *-^^® tiglier plateau or Melnad ; Coonoor, to tlie south-east, at the 

 TIES AND head of a great pass or gorge, the upper portion of which faces 

 Stations. ^Q^^rds the town of Coimbatore ; Wellington, at a short distance 

 The four to the north of Coonoor, lying on the eastern slope of one of the 

 setSements ^^^ great valleys which bifurcate from near the head of the 

 or townships. Coonoor pass ; and Kotagiri, lying some ten miles to the north 

 of Coonoor, on the ridge of the ghats. Ootacamand and Coonoor 

 are Municipalities; Wellington is a Military Cantonment; Kota- 

 giri is still a straggling settlement with no separate corporate 

 existence. 

 Ootacamand. Ootacamand, the chief town of the district, occupies the 

 western slopes of the Doddabetta mountain range ; the town proper 

 lies within the basin formed by two spui's of this mountain, the 

 highest point of the southern being Elk Hill, of the northern 

 the Club Hill. These spur-ranges, like the western slopes of 

 Doddabetta itself, are broken into somewhat deep and rocky, 

 though open, valleys, which in early days were filled with 

 beautiful forests. The ranges constituting the northern and 

 southern shoulders of the town lose their rougher features 

 towards the west and gradually pass into rolling downs, which 

 stretch away for miles to the Kundas and form a splendid 

 riding country, with here and there a swamp or wood in the 

 hollows from which spring innumerable streams. Owing to its 

 peculiar natural features, Ootacamand is much exposed to the 

 westerly winds, but is well protected upon the north and east. 

 The bottom of the Ootacamand basin has been converted into 

 a lake some two miles in length and one-third mile in width, by 

 throwing a dam across the main stream at a narrow pass where it 

 issues from the central valley. This lake is divided into two 



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