1838.] 



Notes on Goomsoor. 



135 



Notwithstanding the primitive character of the mountains, the crops 

 of rice are extremely rich; but the constantly decaying vegetable 

 matter, together with the ashes of the burnt-up vegetation, must annu- 

 ally be washed down from the elevated spots, and thus enrich the soil 

 below. 



The climate is admirably adapted for the cultivation of European 

 vegetables and fruits of nearly all descriptions; every variety of site, 

 varying in temperature, and in degrees of shelter or exposure, can be 

 chosen, as occasion may require ; — and thus a country, discovered by 

 accident, in the very midst of the British possessions, may be now 

 turned to purposes, the ultimate advantages of which, either national 

 or individual, it is at present impossible to appreciate. Now that the 

 country, after the lapse of ages of internal discord, has at last settled 

 down into a state of peaceful quietness and repose, and when the 

 mountaineers perceive the aim and end of government, then will all 

 their energies be directed to call forth the natural resources of their 

 country. Even in the unsettled state of the country at present, the 

 forests are gradually being thinned by the labours of the mountaineers, 

 so that now, when all is quiet amongst them, it is easy to imagine 

 how great a change will soon take place, both amongst the people 

 themselves, as well as on the face of the country. The very 

 process of reconstructing their destroyed villages (made almost en- 

 tirely of long and broad planks of wood), will, of itself, go far to thin 

 the adjacent forests, and open the surrounding country. 



The Khond villages are rather picturesque objects, situated in 

 iclumps, here and there, separate and distinct from each other, and sur- 

 rounded with stoutly fenced enclosures. From ten to twenty houses 

 constitute a village ; they are arranged in two rows, forming an oblong 

 oval, and the internal court or area, common to all the members, 

 is secured by strong wooden doors at both extremities. These doors 

 are neatly ornamented with figures of birds, rudely carved, either in 

 alto relievo fashion, or stuck on pedestals along the top, or are 

 made to adorn the tops of poles in front of the mulikd's house, 

 which appears to be in the centre of the range. The walls of 

 the houses are about five feet high, — made of strong, broad and 

 long planks of wood, and the whole is neatly and uniformly 

 thatched (with little slope) from end to end. Each house is gene- 

 rally divided into three compartments, separated by trellis work 

 or planks; the centre space, the largest, is set aside for cooking, and as 

 k general place of meeting ; another is for the reception of the yearly 



