Indian gold-fields. I feci it a duty, therefore, to a country where I have c\-perienced
so much kindness, to utter a word of.warning. Devalah, the scene of the
successful experiments now reported, is Exceedingly insalubrious for a
considerable portion of each year. The district lies at the base of the
great -Vilgiri (Blue Mountain) range, at an elevation of 2,500 feet
above sea level, while the plateau in which the neighbouring sanatorium
of Ootacamund is situated is 7,000 feet altitude, with peaks rising, as
in the case of Dodabetta, to considerably over 8,000 feet. As is the
case with all places so situated in India, and even in Ceylon, Devalah
is haunted by malarious fever—the " jungle fever" of the tropics, from
which the northern regions of even this favoured land of Australia are
not exempt. What the deadly " terai" of the Eastern Himalayas is to the
delightful hill region of Darjeeling, which looks down on the rich but
pestiferous plain below, that Devalah, with most of the Wynaad, is to
the Nilgiri (Neilgherry) mountaia ranges, in which the fine sanataria
of Coohoor (6,000 feet elevation) and Ootacamund (7,000 feet) art
situated. Bracing climate and pestiferous are separated by only a few
miles of distance. Superior elevation is an important factor in the
difference, but there are other conditions. The soil al the bases of
the Indian ranges consisting of the debris of the mountains,
washed down during thousands of years, and of humus resulting from
decayed vegetation, is rich, but gives out pestiferous gases when
stirred. The rainfall, too, is very heavy, but badly distributed, the
great bulk of 200 inches or more falling in four months out of the
twelve, the remaining eight being generally distinguished for, but
seldom broken drought. That condition alone (of rainfall) involves
insalubrity, and the greater salubrity of the mountain region of Ceylon
is due to the more equal distribution of the monsoon rains. Of course
there is the qualifying circumstance that in the Wynaad, a healthy and
health-restoring region is close to the fever region, and could be
rendered easily accessible by a winding railway (I have strong
objections to the ladder-railway, Rhigi pattern, by which it is
proposed to connect Ootacamund with the " low country"). It is possible
that rich quartz, brought to the surface during the healthy period of
the year, might pay the expense of transport up to a healthy altitude,
there to be crushed. In that case the digging, mainly by natives (who,
though they suffer, do not suffer so much as Europeans from fever),
might go on all the year round, the crushing and other operations being
conducted above the fever region by Europeans. This is a crude idea of
mine and may probably be pronounced impracticable. If European miners
seek employment in the Wynaad, they must take the risks of the
position, looking at the qualifying fact that a sanatorium is close at
hand. It is right to add, however, that some constitutions, once
affected by a full dose of the fever poison, are never able to throw it
off, even by the generally potent aid of quinine, and " sending the
patient into purer air." Some of the Mysore districts are healthier
than those of Malabar, but it must be understood that besides the
ordinary iufluences of a hot climate in enervating Europeans and
rendering them unfit for manual labour, the dangers of malarious fever
and the consequences which follow are present and formidable. It is
possible, to doubt, that the auriferous reefs may be followed up to the
healthy altitudes, but the vast proportion of the reefs are in the
sub-ranges—low, hot, and generally feverish. Gold prospecting is now
going actively forward in Ceylon, and with good hopes of success. Gold
in minute particles is abundant in some of our rivers, and the natural
conclusion is that deep digging towards the sources of those rivers may
reveal quartz rich in gold. A little more than a quarter of a century
ago we had our " rush" in the Indian Island. A couple of diggers from
Australia report-d gold in the Maha Oya, a stream turbid and unhealthy
from the sea almost up to its source. Persons flocked to the scene and
found gold dust, but no nuggets, and in a few weeks all were dispersed
by fever. The Australians, subsequently, tried digging up in our
sanatorium (Nuwara Eliya, 6,200 feet altitude), and Sir Samuel Baker,
who was resident there at
