The Neilcjhemj Moimtalns, 



[No. U, 



Labour cheap-2 An- ^ere cooly labour is very cheap, 2 annas or 

 nasperday. 2Jd^. a day being the regular rate of pay for a 



working man who can perform any duty pertaining to spade husban- 

 dry, and undertake all the duties of a farm, which, in England, fall to 

 the lot of the common labourer, such as hedging and ditching, trench- 

 ing, hoeing, reaping, stacking, thatching, &c. &c. A shilling a day, 

 or ^ a rupee, is the pay of a bricklayer or carpenter ; men to look 

 after 2 horses receive 14 shillings, or 7 rupees a month, cowherds 4 

 or 5 shillings, and all other labour in proportion. These advantages, 

 coupled with those presented by a ready and ever demanding market 

 for such articles of produce as wheat, barley, (oats if raised) clo- 

 ver, hay (of which article an immense quantity would be consumed 

 in Ootacamund if it was procurable), turnips, potatoes (Ceylon of- 

 fering a very favourable market for this vegetable), butter, eggs and 

 stock of all descriptions, both for butcher's meat and for salting for 

 ship use, would surely, it is to be supposed, tempt many indigent far- 

 mers to this hilly region, whose necessities impel them to emigrate 

 from the mother country, but whose steps are stayed by the warnings 

 uttered by the many hundreds of their unfortunate fellow countrymen, 

 who have hurried heedlessly out to the Australian colonies, only to 

 meet with disappointment and ruin. 



Should circumstances ever induce Government to establish a Farm 

 on these Hills for the purpose of CHCouraging the growth and 

 extending the cultivation of wheat and barley, I should recom- 

 Site recommended for i«end two sites for its location; one on the 

 aGovernmeniFarm. gjevated tract of land to the Westward of 

 the Pykara river, commencing at the north-west angle of the 

 plateau near Neddiwuttum, and extending southward to " Ma- 

 koorty peak," the whole of which may be said to be uninhabit- 

 ed, there being only 7 small Todar munds situated in it, and 

 these not all occupied, while the soil is for the most part excel- 

 lent, pasturage abundant, and the land covered, in many parts, 

 with fine forest, rendering the tract (which contains about 12,000 

 acres) admirably adapted for the purpose which I venture to sug- 

 gest. 



The other site is a fine tract of land forming a sort of promontory 

 Kodenaad ^^^^ north-east angle of the plateau of the 



Hills called " Kodenaad" which is equally unin- 

 habited, having only 3 occupied Todar munds within its limits; the 



