uninteresting
slopes, covered at this season with bumt-up grass. In the immediate
vicinity of Neddi-wattum the scene changes, and after passing the
highest point, the road descends through rich forest towards the
western edge of the lofty Neilgherri range.
At the hotel I found a horse awaiting me; and, after a tolerable breakfast, I started on the last stage of my journey.
The
first mile or so, was through the valuable cinchona plantation
belonging to Government. The trees were about twenty feet in height;
they had been barked, and the stems were carefully protected with a
covering of bast. After passing the plantaÂtion, a magnificent panorama
opens out. Three thousand feet below, extending as far as the eye can
reach, the wide expanse of country extending from Mysore on the right,
all over the Wynaad to the distant mountains beyond Nellumboor, and
bounded on the left by the Neilgherris beyond the Ochterlony Valley,
lies before me. This was my first introduction to the gold region, of
which so much has recently been said. One peculiarity struck me. The
whole country seems broken up into countless undulations—tumbled, as it
were, like the waves of the ocean. Through the centre of this, rises a
higher ridge, of which Needlerock Peak is the most striking feature.
Towards the north, the plateau seems a vast expanse of forest, but the
Wynaad is not so
