CHAPTER I.
FROM BOMBAY TO THE WYNAAD.
A
quick voyage—Reason of my visit explained—Two routes to the Wynaad—A
choking railway journey—Aspect of the country —Mattapollium and its
hotel—The dak mail—How about luggage ?—A dangerous drive—Coonoor—A
beautiful spot— Hurried off—Sanatorium of Wellington—A change of
climate indeed 1—Ootacamund—Australian trees—The road to the Wynaad—I
look for gold, and find coffee—Appearance of the plains of Wynaad—In
doubt as to the road—The Balcarres Valley—A neglected nugget—I meet my
friend, and reach my destination.
In commencing
this brief account of my trip to India, I must put aside one strong
temptation—the desire to describe the first portion of it, the voyage
out. But I will not risk boring the reader by retelling a twice-told
tale. It must suffice, therefore, to say, that I had a pleasant time of
it, with pleasant companions, on board one of the time-honoured P. and
O. boats. On the seventeenth day after leaving London, I landed in
Bombay; a very different affair from the tedious voyage in the palmy
days of John Company.
B
