100 



THE NULLAMULLAYS. 



to halt at. For this mile and more over the water-shed the 

 path is very level ; and then it descends slightly into a 

 lower basin of forest, along which ifc runs, until the head of 

 a pretty glen of almost tropical vegetation is reached, down 

 one side of which the road goes by an old but well made 

 and built ghaut. 



This glen is certainly not of any great extent, being about 

 a quarter of a mile long, but it is very deep and narrow, and 

 densely grown with dark-green foliaged trees, among which 

 are very large bamboos and fine sago-palms, presenting 

 a vegetation quite as tropical as what I have seen myself 

 in the south of Ceylon, and which Mr. Thomas likens to 

 that of the western coast of India. Unfortunately, it was 

 getting too late in the evening, to explore the bottom so as 

 to ascertain the amount of water. As it was, we just got 

 to our camping ground by night-fall. 



At the bottom of the ghaut the road appeared to be 

 trending too much from the desired direction (it pro- 

 bably runs down into the eastern part of the Bru- 

 meshwar valley), so we turned off to the north by a side 

 path. This became very indefinite, but still went in the 

 right direction, leading us into a widish and nearly hill- 

 locked valley of even wilder-looking forest than we had 

 hitherto seen. The path took us past great clumps of bam- 

 boos which appeared to extend generally over this little 

 basin ; in fact, it is more a bamboo valley than otherwise, 

 though, scattered through it, are large Goomer-teaks and 

 many stumps of teak trees 8 or 9 feet in circumference. The 

 wood -men do not appear to have meddled much with this 

 little valley for some time. The path is evidently very 

 little used ; and it appears to be the only one leading 

 over a low saddle into a very dry and open bit of the Bru- 

 mesh war valley, where there is an old camping ground, not 

 far from the head-waters of the Brumeshwar stream, or 



