1860. in 7 months,

MONTH. ° ° ° ° ° ° 61-1/2 72-1/5 66-3/4 57 80-1/2 23-1/2 -----+-------+--------+---------+-----------+--------------+-------- ° ° ° ° ° ° June 61-1/5 74 67-1/2 { 60-1/4 } { 77 } 12-4/5 {on the 27th.} {on the 29th.} July 60 72-1/2 66-1/4 { 57 } { 80-1/2 } 12-1/2 {on the 11th.} {on the 27th.} Aug. 61-1/3 74-2/3 68 { 59-3/4 } { 80-1/4 } 13-1/3 {on the 12th.} {on the 28th.} Sept. 62-1/4 72-1/2 67-1/2 { 60 } { 80 } 10-1/4 {on the 16th.} {on the 19th.} Oct. 62 70 66 { 60 } { 74 } 8 {on the 21st.} {on the 24th.} Nov. 62-1/5 71 66-1/2 { 58 } { 75 } 8-4/5 {on the 29th.} {on the 30th.} Dec. 62 71-1/2 66-3/4 .. .. 9-1/2 -------+-------+---------+-------+------------+--------------+------- From the 1st of June to the 31st of December is the dry season in the "red-bark" region, when the days are usually sunny in the early morning, and mists generally begin to form as the sun declines; while after the autumnal equinox there are heavy rains and thunder-storms. In the wet season the early part of the day is foggy, and there is heavy continuous rain during the afternoons and nights. In the region of _C. Calisaya_, from 13° to 16° S. lat., and from 4000 to 6000 feet above the sea, the dry season lasts from April to the end of August. April and August are showery months. May is also showery, but clear in the forenoons, and the mean temperature during the first half is 69°, mean maximum 71-1/2°, and mean minimum 62-1/2°. June and July are hot dry months, with little rain, a bright hot sun in the day, but cold clear nights. In September the rains begin, increase in October, and pour down incessantly from the beginning of November to the middle of March, with very hot, damp days and nights. We have no detailed information respecting the region of _C. micrantha_ and _C. Peruviana_, species which flourish in 10° S. lat., from 4000 to 5500 feet above the sea. From May to November the sun shines powerfully, yet heavy rains fell from day to day in June and July 1860, and it was not until August that the days were clear and bright. At Casapi, in this region, where a register was kept, it rained during half the days in the year.[419] From November to May is the rainy season, and sometimes the rain pours down for six or seven days without intermission.[420] The Neddiwuttum site, being about 8° or 10° warmer than Ootacamund, has a temperature exactly similar to that of the forests where the above species of chinchonæ flourish. Its elevation above the sea is also the same as that of the chinchona forests. It is true that Mr. Spruce gives the extreme upper limit of the "red-bark" region at 5000 feet; but Mr. Cross saw that species growing at an elevation of 8000 feet; and the great importance of cultivating this species at the highest possible elevation is demonstrated by Mr. Spruce's observation that the bark of trees growing low down and near the plains is by no means so thick as that of trees which flourish in a loftier and more temperate climate.[421] The Neddiwuttum site is within the limit of the region which receives both monsoons. Though protected to some extent from the south-west, it receives a full share of the rains during the summer, and is also supplied with moisture by the north-east monsoon, coming across Mysore between October and December. During the remaining months it is visited by mists and heavy dews in the nights until the south-west monsoon again commences in May. It will probably be found that these species of chinchonæ will bear a much drier climate than we at present suppose; and I have no misgivings that the amount of humidity at Neddiwuttum will not be amply sufficient for their successful cultivation. The only person who has visited this site since its selection, who is capable, through personal knowledge of the South American chinchona forests, of forming an opinion, is Mr. Cross. It is exceedingly satisfactory to find that he not only approves of it for the cultivation of plants of the "red-bark" species, but that, from the superior depth and richness of the soil, he considers that they are likely to thrive even better than in their native forests near Limon, on the eastern slopes of Chimborazo. In the Neddiwuttum forest, among other plants, I found the _Hymenodictyon excelsum_,[422] wild yams, coffee-plants, cinnamon, pepper-vines, _Andromedas_, _Osbeckias_, wild ginger, a _Balanophra_ with a scarlet flower, and abundance of orchids and ferns. On the edge of the forest there was a little hut, merely a few branches covered with grass, and leaning against the trunk of a tree, with some empty honeycombs lying about. It was the habitation of a family of Mooloo Kurumbers, a wild race who live in the forests, and run away in great terror when any one approaches them. The establishment of the plantation will soon make them alter their haunts from the neighbourhood of Neddiwuttum. The magnificent view from this point embraces a great part of Wynaad. Far below there was a small coffee-estate, its bright green contrasting with the more sombre hues of the surrounding forest; and more to the left, though out of sight, is the extensive plantation which, together with a tract of forest on the slopes of the Neilgherries, is owned by Messrs. Ouchterlony and Campbell. After passing the night at Pycarrah, we started next morning to examine another site further to the eastward, and overlooking the plateau of Mysore. We crossed several ranges of grassy hills, with streams in the intervening valleys flowing through thickets of tree rhododendrons, with the gorgeous crimson flowers just beginning to bloom, _Osbeckias_, and a _Lasianthus_ with a beautiful glossy leaf. The hills were dotted with a St. John's-wort with a bright orange flower (_Hypericum Hookerianum_). We soon reached the edge of the plateau, overlooking the low country, and looked down on the wide plains of Mysore, with some Neilgherry peaks in advance of us, and a valley between, where there was bright green cultivation, and crimson patches of amaranth, surrounding the Badaga village of Choloor. Between the place where we stood and the Choloor valley there were some fine patches of forest on the steep hill-slopes; but they did not offer the same advantages as Neddiwuttum for a first experimental chinchona plantation. This side of the hills is drier, the soil poorer, and water is less abundant, though it is nearer Ootacamund, and both labour and supplies are more easily procurable. Returning to Ootacamund we rode up to a Todar-mund, where something unusual had evidently occurred. About thirty Todars were walking in a line through the forest glades below, and several jackals were prowling about in the broad daylight. We afterwards heard that a huge tiger had killed one of the Todar buffaloes that morning, and retreated into the _shola_ on the edge of which we had just had luncheon. They expected him to come out at sunset for his supper. We continued our excursion to the summit of the Kalhutty peak, overlooking the Seegoor ghaut, whence several fine tracts of forest-land slope down; but Neddiwuttum was decidedly preferable in every respect to all the localities which we examined on the northern side of the Neilgherries, and to the eastward of that site. The part of the hills on the south, towards Coonoor and Kotergherry, was out of the question on account of the summer drought, as it is completely screened from the south-west monsoon by the spurs from the Dodabetta peak; and the forests towards the Sispara ghaut, being too far west to receive moisture from the north-east monsoon, were not so good as Neddiwuttum, at least for a first experiment. When the success of the chinchona culture on the 400 acres of the Neddiwuttum plantation is fully established, the experiment may then be extended to the east and west, both by Government and through private enterprise; and these precious barks may be expected to yield remunerative profits to European speculators, while they will at the same time confer an inestimable blessing on the native population. Everything, however, depends upon the method which is adopted for the cultivation of the chinchona-plants in the experimental plantations; and, in a future chapter, I propose to give a detailed account of the course of events, as regards the chinchona-plants on the Neilgherry hills, up to the latest date.