284 



Memoir on the Geology of the 



[Oct. 



After having descended this ghaut three or four miles, we see and feel 

 that we are getting by degrees into a different climate. The air is 

 milder, and a little exertion causes perspiration to flow freely. The 

 ground rattans, the arborescent ferns, and the wild plantains, begin to 

 appear. But the most magnificent, stately object amongst the tree tribe 

 is the Arjoon of the natives, the winged Terminalia, now almost the ex- 

 clusive possessor of the jungles. It is one of the most stupendous trees 

 I ever saw, its trunk rising, column-like, to the height of sixty or seven- 

 ty feet, without giving out a single branch ; but when arrived at this 

 altitude, numbers of them shoot out horizontally, at once, in the form of 

 a huge parasol. 



These trees grow so close to each other that there is hardly place for 

 underwood to grow, while, by their incredible number, they completely 

 shut out the view of the ravine itself and of the plains of Malabar; 

 the descent is thus rendered monotonous, confined and uninteresting. 

 But the most serious inconvenience was the narrowness, and the con- 

 stant zigzag of the road, the first being such that two horses could not 

 go abreast. I said was because the moment the Right Honourable the 

 Governor perceived the quasi inutility of such means of communica- 

 tion, orders were given to correct the inconvenience. The steepness of 

 the whole face of this hill can hardly be conceived; from Sispara 

 to Wallyghoor, a distance of six miles, there is no place where a tent 

 can be pitched! Wallyghoor is a place, where only a tent or two may 

 be pitched, being about midway down the ghaut, where the camp is at 

 present situated. Having, two years ago, seen what a singularly ro- 

 mantic effect that portion of the Koonoor pass had, where the Pioneers 

 were encamped, I anticipated the same view at Wallyghoor; but I was 

 greatly disappointed. 



In this place there being no possibility of erecting them along the 

 road, and the thickness of the trees being so great, the huts were scat- 

 tered about here and there, where a place could be found under a tree, 

 and, being made of branches and leaves, they could not be distinguish- 

 ed from the brambles and high grass. But, when night came on, the 

 scene changed for the better. It was really romantic and pleasing 

 in the extreme. There were one hundred and fifty people collected 

 there, and at night, before every hut there was a fire, round which num- 

 bers were moving about, squalid and livid looking (the effect of 

 the fire-light on a black countenance), busy preparing their victuals ; 

 add to this our tents, our horses picketed before them, and the groups 

 of horse-keepers and servants, with many fires blazing on the steep 

 acclivity, which by their light and smoke magnified the gigantic trees 

 around them, and doubled, at the same time, the dark shade betwixt 

 each. What a subject for Gerardo delle Notti, or my countryman 

 Pietro Novelli ! 



