144 WILD LIFE IN NORTH CANARA. 



the steep sides of the grand ravine 

 by which Conoor is approached, to find 

 himself emerging from the companion- 

 ship of woods and crags into an un- 

 dulating plateau of huge green downs 

 sloping down to broad, saucer-shaped 

 valleys, a land of wild flowers and 

 running streams and scattered coppices. 

 The plateau extends irregularly for 

 between twenty and thirty miles, with 

 an average breadth of somewhat less, 

 presenting its greatest elevation to the 

 west, from which quarter it is visited 

 by the rains of the south-west monsoon 

 from June to September. During this 

 period the western summits pass much 

 of their time in the clouds, though 

 there occur delicious " breaks in the 

 monsoon," during which the sun makes 



