Ixiv APPENDIX TO THE MANDAL 



superior in size and make to any in India, and are excessively savage ; 

 they roam at leisure in very large herds on the pastures in Mullauaud ; 

 arc chiefly the property of the Todawars; they yield very large 

 quantities of rich milk, which is manufactured into butter and ghee, 

 and forms one of the principal articles for export. The wild animals 

 are the elk, spotted deer, and hog ; bears and tigers not a few ; the 

 latter have been known to attack men, and the buffaloes grazing on 

 the pastures to the west frequently fall a prey to this ferocious 

 animal. Hares abound in all parts, as also pea and wild fowl, and 

 black quail, doves, and a variety of other birds, together with 

 vultures, kites, and ravens, but the common crow is never seen to 

 frequent these regions. 



Climate. The climate of these mountains is perbaps the finest known 



between the tropics ; during December, January, and February it is 

 extremely cold ; water is often frozen during night, and the ice is 

 sometimes seen to remain on its surface after sum-iso, but during the 

 other nine months it is delightful the whole day ; in the morning it 

 is often below 50°, never above 60^ nor in the hottest day in this 

 interval does it rise above 75° in the shade ; notwithstanding the 

 gelidity, the inhabitants appear on the whole to be extremely healthy ; 

 fevers are sometimes prevalent, but of a slight nature, arising 

 perhaps more from exposure to the keen night air and rain ; they are, 

 however, in other respects free from most epidemic diseases, the small- 

 pox excepted, which is much dreaded here. It is singular in so 

 extensive a population that a deformed object is rarely seen ; yet from 

 the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes there is strong reason to 

 believe they are not altogether free from venereal complaints. A 

 very favorable idea of the salubrity of the climate may be drawn from 

 the many instances of European gentlemen recovering their health 

 after a short residence on them, a circumstance which of itself proves 

 beyond a doubt its extreme healthiness ; it is, however, injurious to 

 health to be exposed the whole day to the keen air and sun, it having 

 a tendency to make the face and lips very sore ; the pain arising from 

 it does iu some individuals create fever. The south-west or Malabar 

 monsoon has its influence here ; it commences early in June ushered 

 in with violent winds and sleet, with sometimes a heavy fall of rain ; 

 this continues with short intervals of fair weather to September, when 

 the north-east monsoon shows indications of setting in ; the wind 

 blowing from that quarter is followed with heavy showers of rain, 

 with thunder and lightning, during November and December ; from 

 the middle of the latter month to May the weather is generally fair 

 and serene ; in April some heavy showers arc experienced, with 

 thunder and lightning accompanied with hail, and the wind then 

 blows from various quarters, mostly from south-east; during the 

 prevalence of both monsoons the mountain is for many days together 

 enveloped in dense fogs, which disperse after a heavy shower, when 

 the atmosphei'c clears up and the weather continues fair for some 

 days. 



