INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 135 



mountains west of Dindigal, the Animalaya south of Coim- 

 bator, the Shevaghiri mountains south-west of Madura, and 

 the ranges near Courtalam, are all well-known as the scenes 

 of Dr. Wight's indefatigable labours, which have extended to 

 Cape Comorin itseK in this direction. 



There are few botanical features of Travancor not common 

 to both Ceylon and Malabar in general. Nutmegs, coflfee, and 

 ciunamon flourish at Courtalam. The remarkable Palm, Ben- 

 tinckia, so common on its mountains, is however not known 

 in Ceylon. The other Palms are Caryota wens, an Areca, 

 Phoenix fariniferd, and one or two species of Calamus. 



NiLGHiRi AND KijRG MOUNTAINS. — To the north of the 

 Coimbator valley, this part of the peninsular chain rises ab- 

 ruptly to 8000 feet elevation as the NUghiri range, and is 

 continued northward as the mountains of Kiirg at nearly the 

 same elevation. Below 6000 feet they are steep and densely 

 wooded ; above that they form undulatiag grassy table-lands, 

 with scattered bushes and copsewood, from which low sloping 

 hills arise, of which Dodabetta, the loftiest of the range, at- 

 tains 8429 feet. 



To the west and south, the NUghiri mountains are precipi- 

 tous ; to the east, long transverse ranges covered with dense 

 forest are given ofl", enclosing the lofty valleys of Mysore. 



The rain-fall, which is excessive to the westward, is much 

 diminished before reaching the axis of the chain : at Doda- 

 betta it is 100 inches ; and at Utacamand only 64 inches. 

 The seasons are uniform throughout the year, the cold never 

 being extreme, though frosts do occur in clear winter nights. 

 The following abstract (which we borrow from Gardner) wiU 

 afford a few data as to the temperatures of certain positions 

 and elevations : — 



Alt. Mean temp. 



Dinhetty 6166 feet 640 



Kotaghery .... 6407 „ 63-4 



Utacamand .... 7197 „ 61'0 



Dodabetta . ■ • 8429 56-0 



