60. TOPOe^RAPHf. 



inagnificent Ghat of the same name, which forms the great 

 road to the whole S. and E. of India. 



The Ghat runs up a deep fissure, betwixt the rocks ter- 

 minating the Dodabet range and a long projecting spur, 

 thickly clothed with wood, and distinguished by three or 

 four rounded eminences, on the outermost of which is situ- 

 ated the hill fort called Hulliculdroog, in a very command- 

 ing situation, the roclts descending almost perpendicularly 

 into the low country on every side, except that on which it 

 is approached from the table-land. The remains of a similar 

 fort are to be found on a high rock opposite BillycuU, and a 

 third at a place called Atra, beyond Kotergherry. It is diffi- 

 cult to conceive for what purpose these forts were intended, 

 the more so, as considerable labour and expence must have 

 been incurred in their construction, while their isolated 

 position and excessive difficulty of access must have made 

 them nugatory, as regards any object of defence or protec* 

 tion : still less could they be intended to command the passes 

 of the hills, none of which are sufficiently near. The only 

 plausible conjecture is, that they were intended as state pri- 

 sons or repositories of treasure. They are said, I know not 

 on what authority, to have been constructed by Hyder 

 Ally.* 



The line of separation betwixt the central and eastern 

 range is not so well marked, as between that and the 

 Koondahs. 



The N. E. face of Dodabet descends with a very sudden 

 slope, the hollows being filled with wood, and the bottoms 

 of the interjacent valleys occupied by swamps. After cross* 



* Captain Harkness gives a different account of their origin. See his 

 ■work, noticed in the List of Publications i— Ed* 



