[355] Pruvonena, i. p. 688.

[356] Pedro Castilla discovered the class of ore called lecheador (chloro-bromide of silver). See Bollaert's Antiquarian and other Researches in Peru, &c. In this work there is a full and interesting account of the province of Tarapaca, and of the nitrate of soda works, and other mineral products of that part of Peru.

[357] This province also yields great quantities of tobacco, sugar, rice, and maize; and the adjoining province of Truxillo produces cochineal, which was introduced by Mr. Blackwood.

[358] 1 fanegada = 41,472 square varas (yards), and 1 acre = 4840 varas. In Arequipa the square measure is called a topu. 1 topu = 5000 square varas.

[359] Mr. Gerard Garland is about to commence a cotton plantation in the littoral province of Payta; and, if his project succeeds, it will doubtless induce others to follow his example.—Cotton Supply Reporter, March 15th, 1862.

[360] The use of guano as a manure was well known to the ancient Peruvians long before the Spanish conquest. Garcilasso de la Vega, the historian of the Incas, thus describes the use made by them of the deposits of guano on the coast of Peru:—

"On the shores of the sea, from below Arequipa to Tarapaca, which is more than 200 leagues of coast, they use no other manure than that of sea-birds, which abound in all the coasts of Peru, and go in such great flocks that it would be incredible to one who had not seen them. They breed on certain uninhabited islands which are on that coast; and the manure which they deposit is in such quantities that it would also seem incredible. From afar the heaps of manure appear like the peaks of some snowy mountain range. In the time of the kings, who were Incas, such care was taken to guard these birds in the breeding season, that it was not lawful for any one to land on the isles, on pain of death, that the birds might not be frightened, nor driven from their nests. Neither was it lawful to kill them at any time, either on the islands or elsewhere, also on pain of death. Each island was, by order of the Incas, set apart for the use of a particular province, and the guano was fairly divided, each village receiving a due portion. Now in these times it is wasted after a different fashion. There is much fertility in this bird-manure."—II. lib. v. cap. iii. p. 134-5. (Madrid, 1723.)

Frezier mentions that, when he was on the coast in 1713, guano was brought from Iquique and other ports along the coast, and landed at Arica and Ylo, for the aji-pepper and other crops.—Frezier's South Sea, p. 152. (London, 1717.)

[361] Informes sobre la existencia de Huano, en las Islas de Chincha, por la comision nombrada por el Gobierno Peruano, 1854. A small pamphlet, with plans.

[362] Bollaert's Account of Tarapaca.

[363] In 1858 there were 52 ships loading at the Kooria Mooria islands, off the coast of Arabia. In Jibleea the guano is found coating nearly the whole of the island (about 500,000 tons), white and polished, so as to be very slippery, which is very different from the guano of Peru. In May, 1857, this guano from Jibleea island was analyzed at Bombay by Dr. Giraud, with the following result:—

Thus the quantity of phosphate of lime is very small, and it appears that the rains have washed it down, and that it has formed a stalactitic deposit on the surface of the rock beneath the guano. A cargo of this deposit was shipped and sold at Liverpool for 8l. a ton.

The composition of Peruvian guano is as follows:—

Of Ichaboe guano:—

[364] The Peruvian Government contracted three loans in London between 1822 and 1825, amounting to 1,816,000l., bearing interest at 6 per cent.

No interest was paid from 1825 to 1849, when the sales of guano had greatly increased the resources of Peru. In 1849 SeÑor Osma made an agreement with the bondholders to issue New Bonds at 4 per cent. per annum, the rate to increase ½ per cent. annually up to 6 per cent. Arrears of interest, about 2,615,000l., were to be capitalized, and Deferred Bonds to be issued to represent 75 per cent. of these arrears, and to bear interest at 1 per cent. per annum, increasing ½ per cent. annually up to 3 per cent.

In 1852 the Congress authorised General Mendiburu to effect a loan in London for 2,600,000l. to redeem the remainder of the 6 per cent. loan, and to refund other home and Chile debts.

The annual interest and sinking fund amount, respectively, to 267,000l. and 82,000l.; the payment of which is secured on the profits of guano sold in Great Britain.

There is also a French loan of 800,000l. secured on the profits of guano sold in France.

The whole foreign debt of Peru amounted to 4,491,042l. in 1857; and the domestic debt to 4,835,708l. The foreign debt is annually reduced by means of a sinking fund.

[365] Memorias de los Vireyes que han gobernado el Peru. (Lima, 1859.)

[366] After his death 22 wounds were found on his body, and 2 bullets lodged.

[367] Mr. Howard has recently obtained 8·5 per cent. of alkaloids from a specimen of red bark.

[368] There is no ascertained law by which many of the species of the chinchona genus are thus limited to narrow zones as regards latitude. Mr. Spruce mentions that on the lower regions of the Andes of Pasto and Popayan, in New Granada, there are the conditions of climate and altitude requisite for the growth of C. succirubra, but it has not been found there.

[369] This is not the same as the pata de gallinazo of Huanuco, which has been named by Mr. Howard C. Peruviana.

[370] Mr. Cross sowed eight of the seeds; one began to germinate on the fourth day, and at the end of a fortnight four seeds had pushed their radicles. In three weeks one had the seed-leaves completely developed; and on the twenty-eighth day after sowing, the last of the eight pushed its radicle. Eight chinchona-seeds, gathered by Mr. Spruce in 1859, were sown at Guayaquil, which had remained nine months in his herbarium. Of these four germinated, which clearly shows that well-ripened and properly-dried seeds do not lose their vitality for a much longer period than their excessive delicacy would lead one to suspect.

[371] 1. Notes of a visit to the Chinchona Forests, by R. Spruce, Esq., printed by the LinnÆan Society, vol. iv. of their Proceedings.

2. Mr. Spruce's Report to the Under Secretary of State for India, Oct. 12, 1860.

3. Report of the Expedition to procure Plants and Seeds of the Chinchona succirubra, by R. Spruce, Esq., Sept. 22, 1861.

[372] Letter from Mr. Pritchett to the Under Secretary of State for India, dated July 9, 1861.

[373] Letter from Mr. Pritchett to the Under Secretary of State for India, dated Dec. 13, 1860.

[374] Smyth's Journey from Lima to Para, p. 63.

[375] Herndon's Valley of the Amazon, p. 126.

[376] Herndon's Valley of the Amazon, p. 136.

[377] Smyth, p. 115; who says that, according to a register which had been kept there, it rains at Casapi on more than half the days of the year.

"From May to November the sun shines very powerfully in the valley of Chinchao, and consequently the soil, when it is cleared of wood, becomes so parched that its surface opens in chinks, but underneath it always preserves humidity, and therefore needs no irrigation. From November to May it rains much, sometimes six or seven days without intermission."—Dr. A. Smith's Peru as It Is, ii. p. 57.

[378] Of the identity of the species collected by Mr. Pritchett there is no doubt. He brought home specimens from the trees whence the seeds were obtained, which have been examined by Mr. Howard, and proved to belong to C. nitida, C. micrantha, and C. Peruviana. The barks also have been found to contain a satisfactory percentage of alkaloids. Some further particulars respecting these species have already been given in chap. ii. p. 30-35.

[379] Pavon gives its height at from 18 to 24 feet, and 8 to 9 inches in diameter.

[380] They yield the crown bark of commerce.

[381] Seemann's Voyage of H. M. S. Herald, i. p. 177. For some further particulars respecting the chinchona region of Loxa, see chap. ii. p. 21-25.

[382] Nueva Quinologia de Pavon. C. Chahuarguera and C. crispa.

[383] Mr. Cross transmitted the following dried specimens of the parts of chinchona-trees from Loxa:—

1. Very characteristic specimens of the bark, leaves, flowers, and capsules of C. Condaminea (C. Chahuarguera, Pavon). This kind yields the rusty crown bark of commerce.

2. Bark, leaves, and flowers of C. crispa, Tafalla, a kind which is included in the C. Condaminea, H. and B. It yields the quina fina de Loxa, or cascarilla crespilla.

3. Bark and leaves of C. LucumÆfolia of Pavon, from Zamora. This is the cascarilla de hoja de lucma of the natives. Mr. Cross made no attempt to collect the seeds, as this species is comparatively worthless.

[384] My collection of dried specimens is deposited in the museum and herbarium at Kew. It consists of leaves, flowers, fruit, and bark of C. Calisaya; leaves and flowers of C. micrantha; leaves and fruit of C. Caravayensis; fruit of Pimentelia glomerata; and bark from the branches of almost every species of chinchona and allied genera in the Caravayan forests.

Mr. Spruce's collection of all the parts of C. succirubra is in the herbarium at Kew.

Mr. Pritchett's collection of leaves, fruit, and bark of C. nitida, C. micrantha, C. Peruviana, and C. obovata, is in the possession of Mr. Howard.

Mr. Cross's dried specimens of leaves, flowers, fruit, and bark of C. Condaminea (C. Chahuarguera of Pavon), bark, leaves, and flowers of C. crispa of Tafalla, and bark and leaves of C. LucumÆfolia, are partly in my possession, partly in that of Mr. Howard, and partly in that of Mr. Veitch.

[385] Six cases of chinchona-plants from this depÔt were despatched to Ceylon by the mail of March 4, 1862.

[386] See Fortune's Tea Districts, chap. xxi. p. 358-9.

[387] Mr. Cross says that Wardian cases, as they are at present constructed, are notoriously unfit for the growth of plants of any description. He adds that the plants must be healthy root and top before they are deposited in the cases. They ought to be exposed for at least a month to the full action of the sun and atmosphere, so that the juices, stems, and leaves may be fully developed and matured. Plants taken out of hothouses, or from dense forests, are not in a fit state to be sent away immediately in Wardian cases. They are then "blanched," and are easily affected by adverse influences, such as excess of moisture or drought.

[388] In October, 1861, the Schinus molle plants were 3 feet high; and the chirimoyas 15 inches. Plants of both have been sent to the gardens at Bangalore.

[389] Seemann's Voyage of the Herald, i. p. 171.

[390] These 11 classes are:—1. The KirÜm Nairs, who are agriculturists, clerks, and accountants, and do the cooking on all public occasions, a sure sign of transcendent rank. 2. The Sudra Nairs. 3. The Charnadus. 4. The Villiums, who are palkee-bearers to Namburis and Rajahs. 5. The Wattacotas, or oil-makers. 6. The Atticourchis, or cultivators. 7. The Wallacutras, or barbers. 8. The Wallateratas, or washermen. 9. The Tunars, or tailors. 10. The Andoras, or pot-makers. 11. The Taragons, or weavers, who are very low in the scale, for even a potter must purify himself if he chances to touch a weaver.—Buchanan, ii. p. 408.

[391] Buchanan.

[392] Temulporum and Palghaut.

[393] They range from 12 to 60 reas, or 6 pies to 2 annas 5 pies per tree.

[394] The value of the exported nuts, kernels, oil, and coir of the cocoanuts in 1859, was 157,995l.

[395] Drury's Useful Plants of India.

[396] The best soil for ginger-cultivation is red earth free from gravel. At the commencement of the monsoon beds of 10 or 12 feet by 3 or 4 are formed, in which holes are dug a foot apart, which are filled with manure. The roots, hitherto carefully buried under sheds, are dug out, chipped into suitable sizes for planting (1½ to 2 inches long), and buried in the holes. The bed is then covered with a thick layer of green leaves, which serve as manure, while they keep the beds from too much dampness. Rain is requisite, but the beds must be kept from inundation, and drains are therefore cut between them. The roots or rhizomes, when old, are scalded, scraped, and dried, and thus form the white ginger of commerce.—Drury's Useful Plants of India.

[397] The tallipot or fan-palm (Corypha umbraculifera) has a stem 60 or 70 feet high, crowned with enormous fan-shaped leaves, with 40 or 50 pairs of segments. These fronds, when dried, are very strong, and are used for hats and umbrellas. The petiole is seven feet long, and the blade six feet long and thirteen feet broad.

[398] The sumach-tree (CÆsalpinia coriaria) was introduced into India from America, by Dr. Wallich, in 1842. The pods are much used for tanning purposes.

[399] Nil, blue, and giri, a mountain; from the blue Justitias which cover many of the hill-slopes.

[400] Report of Captain J. Ouchterlony, Superintendent of the Neilgherry Survey in 1848.

[401] Ferdosi.

[402] Dr. Wight says that this plant might be collected in vast quantities with little trouble or expense, and yields an excellent red dye.

[403] This nettle is frequent all over the higher ranges of the Neilgherries. The bark yields a fine strong fibre, which the natives obtain by first boiling the whole plant, to deprive it of its virulently-stinging properties, and then peeling the stalks. The textile material thus obtained is of great delicacy and strength.—Wight's Spicelegium Neilgherense. The fibre of the Neilgherry nettle is worth 200l. a ton in England, and its cultivation is likely to be a remunerative speculation.

[404] Tribes inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills, from the rough Notes of a German Missionary. (Madras, 1856.)

[405] Vocabulary of the Dialect spoken by the Todars of the Nilagiri Mountains, by the Rev. F. Metz, of the German Evangelical Mission. (Madras, 1857.)

[406] Antiquities of the Neilgherry Hills, by Captain H. Congreve, 1847. Also, Caldwell's Comparative Dravidian Grammar. The German missionaries believe that these cairns were the work of the Kurumbers, another wild hill tribe.

[407] Todars pay two taxes to Government in return, on female buffaloes and on grazing land, both small in amount.

[408] Raggee, however, is the least nourishing of all the cereals, although it forms the chief part of the diet of the poorer classes in Mysore and on the Neilgherries. In good seasons it yields 120-fold, but it is very poor fare.

[409] In 1807 Buchanan mentioned the Badagas of the Neilgherries, as gatherers of honey and wax in the hills south of Wynaad.—ii. p. 246 and p. 273.

[410] Literally "one stone village."

[411] The great Tamil scholar.

[412] Hooli, a tiger in the Badaga language; and cul, a rock or stone in Tamil and Canarese. Pili is a tiger in Tamil.

[413] Mr. Fowler, in his evidence before a Committee of the House of Commons, gave 2500 to 4000 feet as the most favourable elevation for the growth of coffee.

[414] There are 11,386 acres of land under coffee cultivation in Wynaad, 7358 owned by Europeans, and 4028 by natives: of these 7224 are liable to assessment, that is, the coffee-trees are in bearing.

[415] Besides a jemmi fee on Government land, of eight annas an acre.

[416] Cleghorn's Forests and Gardens of Southern India, p. 16.

[417] Several species of ChinchonÆ flourish at altitudes from 8000 to over 10,000 feet above the sea, and within the region of frequent frosts.

[418] Karsten.

[419] Smyth's Journey from Lima to Para, p. 115.

[420] Dr. A. Smith's Peru as It Is, ii. p. 57.

[421] Mr. Spruce's Report, p. 27.

[422] Called Cinchona excelsa by Dr. Roxburgh, but excluded from the list of ChinchonÆ by Dr. Wallich, who gave the plant its present name.

[423] In the Mahabharata the five Pandus, who contended with the 100 Kurus or vices, were—Yudisthira, the personification of modesty; and his brothers Arjuna, or courage; Bhima, or strength; Nakal, or beauty; and Sahadeva, or harmony. The conversation between Arjuna and the incarnate deity Krishna, in the Bhagavat Gita, an episode in the Mahabharata, is perhaps the finest passage in the whole range of Sanscrit literature.

[424] CÆsalpinia sappan, a handsome tree, with curiously-shaped pods. It yields a valuable dye.

[425] Called jowaree, in Bengalee; jonna, in Telugu; yawanul, in Sanscrit; and doora, in Egypt.

[426] Dolichos lablab, a kind of pulse much eaten by the poor people.

[427] Cotton (Gossypium Indicum) is called parati, in Tamil; putti, in Telugu; and kurpas, in Sanscrit.

[428] The former of these grains has already been mentioned. The latter is Panicum spicatum, or spiked millet. It is called bajree, in Guzeratee; and kunghoo, in Sanscrit; and is made into cakes and porridge.

[429] "The black cotton soil seems to have arisen from the decomposition of basalt and trap. When dry it is dark-coloured, and glistens from the presence of nearly pure grains of silica. It possesses extraordinary attraction for water, and forms with it a most tenacious mud."—Dr. Forbes Watson.

[430] "The district of Coimbatore lies opposite the great gap in the Peninsular chain between the southern slopes of the Nilgiri mountains, and the northern face of those of Travancor. Across this depression the S.W. monsoon has almost a free passage to the eastward; but the great elevation of the mountains on both sides, and the absence of any considerable hills in the district, cause the monsoon wind to pass over without depositing much of its moisture; and, though the climate is humid, the rainfall is very trifling. During the N.E. monsoon the hills of Salem intercept the moisture."—Hooker's Flora Indica, i. p. 132.

[431] Lindley's Theory and Practice of Horticulture, p. 487.

[432] "This is an assurance which no private tenant in any country, not even in England, has obtained."—East India Company's Memorandum, 1858, p. 17.

[433] Koda, a shade or umbrella; and karnal, a jungle.

[434] Literally "Fruit-hills."

[435] Yet I missed the Berberis Mahonia, which in the Neilgherries is not found beyond the limits of the S.W. monsoon.

[436] For short accounts of the Pulney hills, see—

1. Memoir of the Varagherry Hills, by Capt. B. S. Ward, Madras Journal of Literature and Science, Oct. 1837, vol. vi. p. 280.

2. Observations on the Pulney Mountains, by Dr. Wight, Madras Journal, v. p. 280.

3. Report on the Pulneys, by Lieut. R. H. Beddome, Madras Journal, 1857.

4. Sir Charles Trevelyan's Official Tour in the South of India. He says, "It is an important fact that, as regards much the largest portion of this tract, there is no claim to the soil which can interfere with the establishment of the most absolute freehold."

[437] For a very interesting account of the Anamallay hills, see Forests and Gardens of South India, p. 289-302, by Dr. Cleghorn, Conservator of Forests in the Madras Presidency.

[438] Tamil is spoken throughout the Carnatic, in the southern part of Travancore, and north part of Ceylon, by about 10,000,000 souls. Telugu, the first of the Dravidian languages in euphonious sweetness, is spoken in the Ceded districts, Kurnool, part of the Nizam's territory, and part of Nagpore; Canarese in Canara and Mysore; and Malayalam in Malabar. The whole Dravidian race numbers 30,000,000 souls. The Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam languages have each a system of written characters peculiar to itself: the Canarese letters are borrowed from the Telugu.

[439] Caldwell's Comparative Dravidian Grammar. Preface, p. v.

[440] Lectures on the Science of Language, p. 341.

[441] Adam Smith says that numerals are among the most abstract ideas which the human mind is capable of forming. See a paper read before the Ethnological Society in Feb. 1862, On the numerals as evidence of the progress of civilization, by Mr. Crawford.

[442] Caldwell, p. 2.

[443] Kolki of the Periplus; perhaps Kilkhar, on the Coromandel coast, opposite Rameswaram.

[444] In Sanscrit.

[445] In 1802 a pot of Roman coins was dug up near Dharaparum, in Coimbatore, of the Emperors Augustus and Tiberius, with CÆsarea marked on them, the place where they were struck. Buchanan's Travels, ii. p. 318.

One coin, a Roman aureus, has been found in a cairn on the Neilgherry hills.—Captain H. Congreve's Antiquities of the Neilgherry Hills.

[446] The author of the Periplus of the ErythrÆan Sea mentions Nelcynda (Neliceram), Paralia (Malabar), and Comari (Cape Comorin), as under King Pandion (Regio Pandionis); and Dr. Vincent thinks that the Pandyan Kings of Madura lost Malabar between the time of the author of the Periplus and that of Ptolemy; because the latter does not allude to Pandion until Cape Comorin is passed. Chira is the modern Coimbatore, and the capital of the Chira state was at Caroor. The state of Chola is the modern Tanjore. The word Pandya is probably of Sanscrit origin, but the masculine termination of on is Tamil.

[447] "In Tamil few Brahmins have written anything worthy of preservation: but the language has been cultivated and developed with immense zeal and success by native Sudras."—Caldwell, p. 33. Tamil literature, now extant, dates from the eighth or ninth century: p. 68.

[448] Dr. Ainslie, in his Materia Medica, gives a list of twenty works by Aghastya, chiefly on medical subjects, some of them translated from Sanscrit.

[449] For a list of kings of Madura, of the Pandyan and Naik dynasties, see a paper in the Asiatic Society's Journals, by H. H. Wilson; from MS. collections of the late Colonel Mackenzie.

[450] Tanjore was seized by the Mahrattas in 1675. The last Naik sovereign of Madura was installed as a tributary of the Nawab of the Carnatic.

[451] Namely the Michelia Champacca, a golden-coloured flower with a strong aromatic smell, also dedicated to Krishna; the mango-flower-called amra; the Pavonia odorata with a sweet flower, called bulla; the Strychnos potatorum; and the Mesua ferea, a guttiferous plant, with a flower white outside, and yellow inside the tube, with a smell like sweet-briar.

[452] While on the subject of sacred Hindu plants, I may also mention the soma juice, so often alluded to in the Vedas, which comes from a leafless asclepiad (Sarcostemma viminale) with white flowers in terminal umbels, which appear during the rains, in the Deccan: the holy kusa-grass (Poa cynosuroides), made into ropes in the N.W. provinces: the peepul-tree, the banyan, the neem (Melia Azadyraclita): the CratÆva religiosa, specially sacred to Siva: the Nerium odorum, sacred to Vishnu and Siva: the CÆsalpinia pulcherrima, sacred to Siva: the Guettarda speciosa, sacred to Siva and Vishnu: the Origanum marjoranum, a labiate plant sacred to Vishnu and Siva: the Caryophyllum inophyllum, sacred to Vishnu and Siva: the Pandanus odoratissimus, sacred to Vishnu and Mariama, but offensive to Siva: the Artemisia astriaka, sacred to Vishnu and Siva: the Ocimum sanctum or toolsu, a labiate plant with a white flower, specially sacred to Vishnu and Krishna: and the Chrisanthemum Indicum, a yellow flower, sacred to Vishnu and Siva.

[454] In Fergusson's Architecture, i. p. 105, the hall is represented with an arched roof, in a sketch from Daniell's Views of Hindostan.

[455] There was a Portuguese Jesuit mission, with two Christian churches, established at Madura during the reign of Tirumalla Naik. It was founded by Robert de Nobilibus, a nephew of Cardinal Bellarmin, and the missionaries wore the sacred thread, declaring themselves to be Brahmins from the West.

[456] The Brahmins of course are of mixed blood, through intercourse with Tamil women. Children are therefore Sudras, and are not Brahmins until they are invested with the sacred thread.

[457] From Parei, a drum, as they act as drummers at funerals.

[458] Caldwell's Comparative Dravidian Grammar, Appendix, p. 491.

[459] Proceedings of the South India Missionary Conference, 1858, p. 283.

[460] Reports connected with the duties of the Corps of Engineers of the Madras Presidency, 1846, vol. ii., p. 108. Report of Captain Bell, p. 117.

[461] There was formerly a peculiar system of collecting land revenue prevalent in Tanjore and part of Tinnevelly, called Oolungoo, by which the Government demand was dependent on the current price of grain. A standard grain assessment was fixed on each village, and also a standard rate according to which the grain demand was to be commuted into money; but if prices rose more than 10 per cent. above the standard commutation rate, or fell more than 5 per cent. below it, the Government, and not the cultivator, was to receive the profit and to bear the loss. The advantage of the system was that the Government participated in the benefit of high prices with the cultivator, while the latter was relieved from loss when prices were much depressed.—Mill's India in 1858, p. 119.

This Oolungoo system was introduced into Tanjore in 1825. It was found that the system was fertile in fraud and corruption, especially in connection with the determination of the annual price, and with claims for alleged deficiency of produce. In July, 1859, the Government resolved to abolish the Oolungoo system, and to substitute a fixed money demand, similar to that which prevails in all other districts. By 1860 this change had been completed, both in Tanjore and Tinnevelly.—Principal Measures of Sir Charles Trevelyan's Administration at Madras (Madras, 1860), p. 55.

[462] The largest temple in Southern India, next to that of Madura.

[463] From Kar, black, and ur a town, in Tamil.

[464] Hooker's Flora Indica, i. p. 124.

[465] Ibid., i. p. 133.

[466] Dr. Cleghorn states that the Seegoor forest has been much exhausted by unscrupulous contractors. "It is important," he adds, "that it should be allowed to recover, as it is the main source of supply to Ootacamund for housebuilding purposes." Captain Morgan has been placed in charge of it, and it is hoped that the sale of sandal and jungle-wood will cover the expenses, while the young teak is coming on for future supply, P. 36.

[467] The areca-palm requires a low moist situation, with rather a sandy soil, either under the bund of a tank, or in a position otherwise favourable for irrigation. The seeds are put into holes six feet apart, and the tree comes into bearing in about eight years. It yields fruit for fifty years, and, when in full bearing, produces 1½ lbs. of nuts.

[468] The Lingayets are members of the Vira Saiva sect, or worshippers of Siva as the Linga, a representation of which they carry round their necks. The sect is numerous in the central and southern parts of the peninsula. It is of modern origin, having been founded by a Brahmin of Kalyan in the middle of the 12th century. Its members deny the sanctity of the Brahmins and the authority of the Vedas, recognize various divinities, and virtually abolish the distinction of castes and the inferiority of women. They are divided into Aradhyas, by birth Brahmins, and often well versed in Sanscrit literature; Jangamas, who have a literature of their own, written in Karnata and Telugu; and Bhaktas.—Wilson's Indian Glossary, p. 311.

[469] The whole population of Coorg is about 119,160.

[470] Namely, the Amma Kodagas or Cauvery Brahmins; the Kodagas or chief tribe; the Himbokulu or herdsmen; the Heggade or cultivators; the Ari or carpenters; the Badige or smiths; the Kuruba or honey gatherers; the Kavati or jungle cultivators; the Budiya or drawers of toddy from the Caryota urens palm; the Meda or basket-makers; the Kaleya or farm-labourers; the Holeya or slaves; and the Yerawa or slaves from Malabar, cheaper than cattle.

[471] Coorg, by Rev. H. Moegling. (Mangalore, 1855.)

[472] Observations by Dr. R. Baikie. Madras Journal, 1837, vi. p. 342.

[473]

1860-61.

[474] Seemann's Popular History of the Palms, p. 134.

[475] Moegling's Coorg, pp. 74-77; also Buchanan's Travels, ii. p. 511, and Drury's Useful Plants of India.

[476] Cleghorn's Forests and Gardens of South India, pp. 126-44, where the official correspondence respecting kumari will be found.

[477] Cleghorn, p. 11. Poon spars are also obtained from Stercula foetida, a tree with brownish flowers, emitting a most horrible smell.

[478] Hooker's Flora Indica, i. p. 126.

[479] The inhabitants of the Laccadive islands are Sooni Mussulmans. They have some songs commemorating the introduction of Islam 500 years ago, but do not know when the Beebee of Cannanore got possession. Menakoy, the largest island, is a mass of coral 5½ miles in diameter. The land is less than a mile wide, the rest being a reef encircling a large lagoon. Within a hundred yards of the reef there is no bottom. The lagoon, which abounds in turtle and fish, has three entrances from the sea, one of which has a depth of two fathoms. The soil of the island is a coarse powdered coral, with a little vegetable matter. It is quite flat, no part being destitute of vegetation; the south thickly covered with cocoanut-trees and underwood, and the north more sparingly. Rats abound, there are some cats, a few cows and goats, large grey cranes, ducks occasionally, and the mosquitos are fearful.

The population is 2500; of these 116 are Malikans, the aristocracy of the islands, who own vessels trading to Bengal. The Koornakar, or agent of the Beebee, is generally a Malikan; he collects rents, and superintends her traffic. The Malikans have the exclusive privilege of wearing shoes, live in large houses built round courtyards, and possess English quadrants, charts, compasses, and telescopes. Below them are 180 Malummies, or pilots, a rank obtained by merit. Then 1107 Klasies, forming the bulk of the population, who are small landed proprietors, go to sea for regular wages, but are very independent. Then 583 Maylacherries, or tree-climbers for hire. The head-men are elected by the people. The islanders have six or seven vessels fit for the Bengal trade, and three or four for coasting. They go with money to Goa and Mangalore for salt and rice, with coir to Bengal, with cocoanuts to Galle, and bring Calcutta cloths home.—Mr. Thomas's Report.

[480] The gross exports of cotton from the ports in the various districts of the Madras Presidency in 1859-60 were as follows:—

In 1860-61 the total export of cotton from Bombay amounted to 355,393,894 lbs.; of which 278,868,126 lbs. went to Great Britain.

In the same year the ports of Malabar and Canara sent 55,182,181 lbs. to Bombay.

[481] In lat. 15° N. the western ghauts are not more than 1100 feet above the sea.

[482] The trap formation of the northern part of the ghauts terminates in 18° N., and is succeeded by laterite.

[483] Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society of Bombay for 1838, i. p. 92.

[484] Or Gnidia eriocephala of Graham.—Dalzell's Bombay Flora, p. 221.

[485] Dalzell's Bombay Flora, p. 93.

[486] Ibid., p. 275.

[487] The following list of shrubs, trees, and ferns growing at Mahabaleshwur has been kindly furnished by Mr. Dalzell.

List of Shrubs and Trees growing on the highest ground at Mahabaleshwur.

• Eugenia Jambolanum.
• Memecylon tinctorium.
• MÆsa Indica.
• Pygeum Zeylanicum.
• Indigofera pulchella.
• Actinodaphne (2 sp.).
• Bradleia lanceolaria.
• ElÆagnus Kologa.
• Osyris Wightiana.
• Lasiosiphon speciosus.
• Salix tetrasperma.
• Callicarpa cana.
• Strobilanthus asperrimus and callosus.
• Ligustrum Neilgherrense.
• Olea dioica and Roxburgiana.
• Ilex Wightiana.
• Maba nigrescens.
• Diospyros (3 sp.)
• Hopea spicata and racemosa.
• Embelia ribes and glandulifera.
• Notonia grandiflora.
• Artemisia parviflora and Indica.

ChinchonaceÆ.

• Grumilea vaginans.
• Pavetta Indica.
• Ixora nigricans and parviflora.
• Canthium umbellatum.
• Vangueria edulis.
• Santia venulosa.
• Wendlandia Notoniana.
• Hymenodictyon obovatum and excelsum.
• Griffithia fragrans.
• Randia dumetorum.

Ferns at Mahabaleshwur.

• Lastrea densa and cochleata.
• Nephrodium molle.
• Sagenia hippocrepis.
• Athyrium filix foemina.
• Asplenium planicaule and erectum.
• Diplazium esculentum.
• Pteris quadrialata, lucida, and aquilina.
• Campteria Rottleriana.
• Adiantum lunulatum.
• Cheilanthes farinosa.
• Polypodium quercifolium.
• Pleopeltis nuda.
• Poecilopteris virens.
• Leptochilus lanceolatus.
• Acrostichum aureum.
• Lygodium scandens.
• Osmunda regalis.

[488] Every Hindu wears a sect-mark on his forehead. These marks are thick daubs of white earth, red ochre, or sandal-wood, and there are several forms according to the different sects. The grand distinctions are between worshippers of Vishnu and Siva, the latter wearing his mark horizontal, and the former perpendicular. Any conical or triangular mark is a symbol of the linga. Two perpendicular lines and a dot between, denotes a worshipper of Vishnu as Rama or Krishna, &c. &c.

[489] Cleghorn, p. 222. Dalzell, p. 86.

[490] Or Euphorbia neriifolia. Dalzell, p. 226.

[491] Account of the village of Lony, by T. Coats. Transactions of the Bombay Literary Society, 1823, vol. iii. p. 172.

[492] The cumboo of the Madras Presidency (Holcus spicatus).

[493] The cholum of Madras (Sorghum vulgare).

[494] The natives of India are supplied, by Nature, with an endless variety of condiments to season their food, many of them growing wild. In the different parts of India I noticed as many as twenty-five ingredients used in curries and porridges. The tender leaves and legumes of the agati (Agati grandiflora); oil from the elloopa fruit (Bassia longifolia); young unripe gourds of the Benincasa cerifera; the papaw fruit; cocoanut-oil; the leaves of Canthium parviflorum; capsicums; cinnamon; leaves of Cocculus villosus; turmeric; cardamoms; jhingo (Luffa acutangula); the fruit of Momordica charantia; green fruit of Morinda citrifolia; the legumes of the horse-radish-tree (Hyperanthera Moringa); the plantain; the tender shoots of the lotus; the pickled seeds of a NymphÆa; the leaves of Premna latifolia; berries of Solanum verbascifolium; legumes of Trigonella tetrapetala; the white centre of the leaf culms of lemon-grass; the Lablab cultratus; onions; the fruit of Sapota elingoides in the Neilgherries; the moong (Phaseolus mungo); and many other pulses.

[495] The ploughs, and the carts on wheels bringing home the food from the fields, are mentioned in the 1st Ashtaka of the Rig Veda.

[496] Dr. Forbes Watson has made some very interesting calculations on the amount of pulses rich in nitrogen, which must be added to rice and other cereals comparatively poor in that constituent, in order that the mixture may contain the same proportion of carbonous to nitrogenous matter as is found in wheat, namely six to one. (See Table, next page.)

The cereals which I saw growing in the peninsula of India, besides rice, maize, wheat, and barley, were:—

1. Setaria Italica, called tennay in Tamil, and samee by the tribes on the Neilgherry hills, which is the Italian millet. The seeds are used for cakes and porridge. In the Deccan it is only cultivated in small quantities for the ryot's own use, and seldom for market. The grain is very small.

2. Panicum Miliaceum, called varagoo on the Pulney hills, and warree in the Deccan: a small millet, generally sown broadcast on the sides of hills. In the Neilgherries it is used as an offering to the gods, mixed with honey, and wrapped in plantain-leaves.

3. Panicum pilosum, or badlee, will grow in the worst soil, but is not much cultivated, unless the rains happen to be too scanty for other crops. The seed is very small, forming a long hairy spike.

4. Cynosurus corocanus, or ragee, is a very prolific grain, and forms the staple food of the poorer classes in Mysore, and on the slopes of the ghauts. It requires a light good soil, from which the water readily flows. In the Deccan they raise it in seed-beds, and transplant when a few inches high. It is made into dark brown cakes.

5. Holcus spicatus, or spiked millet, called cumboo in Madras, and bajree in the Deccan, where it is the chief food of the inhabitants, and is considered very nutritious.

6. Sorghum vulgare, or great millet, called cholum in Madras, and jowaree in the Deccan. It is made into cakes and porridge, and the stalks, which contain sugar, are excellent fodder for cattle. It grows six or eight feet high, and soon exhausts the soil, so that two crops are never taken in succession.

7. Sesamum Indicum, or gingelee oil-plant, called till in the Deccan. Oil is expressed from the seeds, which are also toasted and ground into meal for food. In the Deccan it is sown on gravelly or red soil, and the plants grow three or four feet high. Presents of the seed, made up in little boxes, are exchanged by friends on the day that the sun takes its northerly declination; and they are also acceptable as offerings to the god Mahadeo or Siva.

With these seven grains, the following pulses are usually raised:—

1. Cicer arietinum, or Bengal gram, the seeds of which are eaten, and the oxalic acid, which exudes from all parts of the plant, is used as vinegar for curries.

2. Dolichos unifloris, or horse gram, with grey seeds, used for feeding horses and cattle.

3. Dolichos sinensis, or lobia, a twining annual, with large pale violet flowers. The seeds are much used for food.

4. Cajanus Indicus, pigeon-pea, or toor. A shrub three to six feet high, with yellow papilionaceous flowers. This is an excellent pulse, and makes a good peas-pudding.

5. Phaseolus mungo, black gram, or moong. A nearly erect, hairy annual, with greenish-yellow flowers. It is much cultivated, and is a very important article of food.

6. Phaseolus rostratus, or hullounda, a twining plant, with large, deep rose-purple, papilionaceous flowers, grown in Malabar, and other parts of the peninsula.

7. Another kind of moong, called ooreed, with black and white seeds.

8. Lablab cultratus, a twining plant, with white, red, or purple papilionaceous flowers; much cultivated in gardens, and used for food.

9. Dolichos lablab, or bulla, a twining plant of which there are several varieties. The seeds are much eaten by the poorer classes when rice is dear, and are reckoned a wholesome substantial food. Cattle are very fond of the stalks. One variety, with white flowers, is cultivated in gardens, supported on poles, forming arbours about the doors of houses. The pods are eaten, but not the seeds.