290 Description of the country betiveen [No. 10, kew series. 



The inhabitants would seem to be aware of this, as their villa- 

 ges are almost invariably found on the summits of knolls, or emi- 

 nences and never in or near the bottoms of valleys, and as it is 

 well known that the natives of this country have not the smallest 

 taste for, nor even have an idea of, the picturesque, we cannot con- 

 ceive them to have been influenced in their choice of site by con- 

 siderations of this kind. The mean height of the thermometer in 

 the commencement of the year is (in doors) 64°, and the atmo- 

 sphere which is dry and bracing has an exhilarating effect on those 

 accustomed to the plains, and more particularly to those who have 

 lived on the coast. The lowest observed minimum occurred at 

 Hookampett, 10 miles from the Madugole Ghaut, where the 

 mercury sank to 40°, and even at 7 a. m. was no higher than 

 42°. At Minoogooloor, which is immediately under the Ghaut, 

 I had no opportunity of taking a morning observation, but there I 

 am convinced, the thermometer would have been even lower than 

 just stated. 



Best season for 3. The best season for visiting the country 

 visiting country. geemg tQ be from the middle of January to 



the middle of April, and the worst of all, the period between the 

 monsoons and the cold weather. This is according to universal 

 Native testimony, and is also in accordance with the experience 

 of the few Europeans who have visited the country, as also with 

 the results obtained by our own party, which with servants, 

 sebundees, fcc, comprised fully 200 men among whom there was 

 no fever, nor since our descent into the low country have any been 

 attacked with it. According to the conceived origin and causes of 

 fever, every principle of logic would point to the hot weather as 

 the best season for going up the Ghauts, but from my own ex- 

 perience during my first visit, and from what I have now gathered, 

 upon extended enquiry I am prone to believe, that the hot weather 

 after the middle of April is not a favorable season for visiting 

 these countries. 



Soil. 4. The soil commonly met with on the 



Plateau is red, containing often, and indeed generally, a large ad 

 mixture of gravel, and admirably adapted for road making. In many 

 places I have observed a red indurated clay, which strongly re- 



