XXIX. 



grassy summits, but no table land; beyond this mountain immense 

 forests are seen to the westward as far as the eye can reach, re- 

 sembling in some measure the prospects from the hills to the west of 

 Neddivuttum on the Neilgherries, but the forests appear far more 

 extensive. Unfortunately the clouds soon shut out the view, pre- 

 venting my completing a sketch of the plateau from the summit. This 

 grand mountain, standing out alone as it does amongst smaller hills 

 no doubt appears higher than it really is, but viewing it from several 

 points, more especially on a clear day, from the Nielgherrics, confirms 

 me in the opinion that it is the most lofty on the Annamullay Range, 

 and it may perhaps prove to be a rival even to Dodabetta, as yet 

 considered the highest mountain south of the Himalayas; the strong 

 resemblance it bears to the Peermarl Mullay on the Pulnies is very 

 remarkable. The descent occupied us fifty minutes. On our return, 

 we followed an elephant path for several miles, the gradient of this 

 path was truly wonderful, these sagacious animals avoiding every 

 steep or difficult ascent with the skill of engineers ! We were four 

 hours and twenty-five minutes going, and four hours and twenty 

 minutes returning, exclusive of stoppages. We walked as fast as we 

 could and the nature of the ground would allow, in order to reach the 

 summit of the mountain while clear of clouds, and to avoid being be- 

 nighted on our return. I think, therefore, the distance between the 

 camp at Kartu Mullay and the great mountain cannot be less than 

 fourteen or fifteen miles. On our return from Kartu Mullay to 

 Michael's valley, we found a more direct route leaving Coomarikul 

 Mullay to the east. We again struck on an elephant's path, which, 

 like those previously fell in with, avoided every steep ascent, ex- 

 cept at one hill which was cleverly zigzagged, owing to masses of 

 sheet rock preventing a regular incline being taken. 



" The Pooliars declared they had never been on the mountain 

 before, and did not know its name ; but they told a gentleman who 

 visited the range subsequently, that it was called the Arnee Moody 

 (elephant's forehead), and as such I find it is entered in the original 

 unreduced map of the Great Trigonometrical Survey. 



" The finest apparent site for a settlement is the great plateau 



