1838.] 



Aotes on Goomsoor, 



141 



heaps of empty legumes, which had been roasted, and the fruit eaten 

 by the Khonds. Looking upwards, we saw the majestic creeper, 

 throwing far and wide its sinewy arms, and entwining the surround- 

 ing foliage : the branches were still loaded with fruit; we were not 

 long in making a fire for roasting the same, found it excellent, and eat 

 a considerable quantity.. The bark of the stem or branches is taken 

 to make the rope used by the matchlock-men for matches, and the 

 leaves are sold in the bazars in the low country for holding rice, 

 &c. at meals. 



The plantain v/as growing abundantly in the jungles ; I did not see 

 it cultivated in any of the villages at Wodiaghur. 



Tobacco is cultivated, but no care is bestowed upon it ; it is therefore 

 extremely inferior and small, and when dried the leaves more resem- 

 ble tea than tobacco. On the road to Berhampore, I saw it cultivated 

 in considerable quantity at every village, on dry spots of light soil ; 

 but there appeared no care in its cultivation. It was allowed to branch 

 out, the leaves were small, and they bore a small proportion to the 

 woody or ligneous portion. 



Saccharum off. 1 saw cultivated at Hadjighur, in a small patch, near 

 the bank of the stream. The mill for expressing the juice was differ- 

 ent from that in use in the low country, and rather resembled the oil 

 mill. The Terminalia alata, Chebula and Bellerica were growing 

 above the ghauts. 



Regarding the salubrity of Khondistan I cannot speak so positively 

 as I could wish, the best criterion by which to judge would be the rate 

 of sickness, and its effects during a certain extended period. During 

 the few months I was there, especially on first going up, a 

 good many cases of fever occurred amongst followers and private ser- 

 vants, &c. &c. and indeed amongst all classes, but every case, without 

 one single exception, yielded immediately to that sovereign remedy 

 quinine. These fevers might however have been caught on the way 

 up, still they were not severer than those occurring on the coast of the 

 Northern Circars. 



[Dr. Maxwell forwarded with his paper a few rocky specimens from 

 the places described. They are not complete enough to afford a per- 

 fect knowledge of the geology of the country, and many of them are 

 decomposed fragments, taken from the weathered surface of the rocks, 

 so that it is difficult to say what they are. It is very evident, however, 

 that the formations are all of the primitive class. Granite abounds, 

 composed of quartz and felspar, apparently with little or no mica; of 



