APPENDIX. 



Appendix, No. IX. 



Mxtracis from Captain J. Ouchterlony' s Memoir submitted to 

 the Mad/ras Government in 1847 ; as noticed in the list of 

 publications annexed.* 



The Neilglierries, or rather the plateau formed by their eummits, are 

 by no meana densely wooded, the forests occurring in distinct and 

 singularly isolated patches, in hollows, on slopes, and sometimes on the 

 very apex of a lofty hiU, becoming luxuriant and extensive only when 

 tliey approach the crests of the mountains, and run along the valleys 

 into the plains below. Tliis absence of forest in a region in which, 

 from its position between the tropics, from the abimdance of moistm-c, 

 and from the great depth and richness of the soil, the utmost luxuriance 

 in this respect would be looked for, is very remarkable ; and leads me 

 to conclude, that vast tracts of primeval forest land must have been 

 cleared to make room for cultivation, at no very distant period. 



Owing to the great elevation, at which the inhabited summit of the 

 Neilgherries stands, and the consequent rarefaction of its atmosphere 

 aided doubtless, in some degree, by the beneficial influence of the luxu- 

 riant vegetation which clothes them, the district, although distant only 

 1 1 degrees from the Equator, enjoys a climate now famed for its great 

 salubrity, and remarkable evenness in its seasons, with a temperatm-e 

 which falls, in the coldest month of the year, to the freezing point, and 

 seldom in the hottest, reaches 75° in the shade. In stating this, I of 

 course refer to the general circumstances of temperature which prevail, 

 for seasons have ot course occurred during which, from particular at- 

 mospheric causps, the mercury may have risen occasionally above this 

 estimate. 



The coldest season is dm-ing the months of December and January, 

 and the hottest about April and May, though this latter season is iftt 

 so certain, depending mainly upon the character and time of setting in 



* A copy of this Memoir has been presented by the Editor to the 

 Ootacamund Librai-y, and it is well deserving of perusal by all visitors 

 to the Hills. 



