OBSERVED ON THE PALANI HILLS. 389 



this pass. There was once a village here called Kowaji, but 

 it was deserted many years ago when cholera swept away the 

 population of the hill villages ; and now, without an oid in- 

 habitant for a guide, it would be hard to find its site. Colonel 

 Law, who marked the trace for the new road and is superin- 

 tending its construction, has built a small house on the Saddle 

 and planted Gum trees and other trees around it. When the 

 road is opened a village will naturally grow up there. 



From Mount Permal and the Neutral Saddle to the east, 

 lie the Lower Palanis. Entering them from the west, one 

 finds that thin jungle begins to dispute possession with the 

 grass. Scattered trees grow on the sides and on the tops of 

 the low hills. For ten miles, however, excepting narrow strips 

 along the streams, the trees are small. After that in Pani- 

 kadu, Tandigudi, Periur, &c, excepting the clearings for 

 plantains, coffee and agriculture, the surface is covered with 

 large trees. Some of the trees are immense. Even the slopes 

 of the Lower Palanis that descend to the plains, though they 

 are often very steep and in some places precipitous, (as are 

 the slopes of all the Palanis.) are covered with a thin 

 growth of small trees. The new road descends regularly from 

 Panikadu to the plain and will be carried from the base of 

 the hill to Battagundu which is eleven miles from Amanaikanur, 

 the nearest railroad station. The grade in no part exceeds 1 

 in 17, and is usually less than that. After reaching the general 

 level of the Lower Palanis, the new road winds along the 

 spurs of the long hill that stretches on east from Permal, some- 

 times descending for half a mile, but on the whole ascendino- 

 till, within about ten miles of Kodaikanal, the grade begins to 

 ascend regularly and continues to do so until the top of Mount 

 Nebo is reached. 



The zig-zag bridle path now in use for ascendiug the east 

 side of the Palanis to Kodaikanal, begins at " the Tope," 

 which is five miles north-west from Periakulam and 12 miles 

 east from Kodaikanal. Its turns are too sharp to allow of carts 

 going up. The few wheeled vehicles now in use at the Sani- 

 tarium were brought up in pieces by coolies. 



The new road is ready for use as far as Shemiganur, or about 

 four miles. When the rocks that encroach on it at some 

 places shall have been removed, and two bridges shall have 

 been built, it will be ready for use four miles further, to the 

 Neutral Saddle. The lower part is as yet a mere bridle path, 

 and in some parts of the first climb, a great deal of blasting 

 will be required to carry the road past precipitous patches of 

 granite that crop out and monopolize the hill side. Years 

 may elapse before the road will become passable for carts. 



