GOLD, SPORT, AND COFFEE PLANTING IN MYSORE

WITH CHAPTERS ON

COFFEE PLANTING IN COORG, THE MYSORE REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY, THE INDIAN CONGRESS, CASTE, AND THE INDIAN SILVER QUESTION

BEING THE 38 YEARS' EXPERIENCES OF A MYSORE PLANTER

BY

ROBERT H. ELLIOT

AUTHOR OF "EXPERIENCES OF A PLANTER," "WRITTEN ON THEIR FOREHEADS," ETC.

WITH A MAP IN COLOURS

WESTMINSTER

1898.



DEDICATION.

I have much pleasure in dedicating this book to my friend SIR K. SHESHADRI IYER, K.C.S.I., Dewan of Mysore, and trust that it may be useful in making more fully known the resources of the State whose affairs he has for many years so wisely and ably administered.



PREFACE.

In the year 1871 I published "The Experiences of a Planter in the Jungles of Mysore," and had intended to bring out a new edition of it, but, from various causes, the project was delayed, and when I at last took the matter in hand, I found that so many things had happened since 1871 that it was necessary to write a new book. In this, hardly anything of the "Experiences" has been reproduced, except a very few natural history notes and the chapter on Caste, a subject to which I would particularly call the attention of those interested in Indian missions.

I have been much assisted by informants too numerous for mention here, and can only allude to those who have most conspicuously aided me. Amongst these I am much indebted to my friend Sir K. Sheshadri Iyer, K.C.S.I., Dewan of Mysore, for access given me to information in the possession of the Government, and for returns specially prepared for the book. From my friends Mr. Graham Anderson and Mr. Brooke Mockett, two of the most able and experienced planters in Mysore, I have derived much information and assistance. I am particularly obliged to my friend Dr. Voelcker[1] for many valuable hints, and the chapter on manures has had the advantage of being read by him. For information as regards the history of coffee in Coorg I am much indebted to Mr. Meynell, who represents the large interests of Messrs. Matheson and Co. in that province, and indeed, without his aid, I could not at all have done full justice to the subject. To Mr. Grey, manager of the Nundydroog mine, I am indebted for information as regards the gold mines, and for the kind assistance he in many ways afforded me when I visited them last January. I am also obliged to Colonel Grant, Superintendent of the Mysore Revenue, Survey and Settlement Department, for information as regards game, and the proposed Game Act for Mysore.

I had intended to add a chapter on the cultivation of cardamoms and pepper, but have not done so, because, for the want of recent information from those specially engaged in these cultivations, I could not feel confident of doing full justice to the subject. I may, however, say that as regards cardamoms, I have good reason for supposing that there is not much to be added to the chapter on them which appeared in the "Experiences."

Though I have collected many experiences, I am of course aware that many more remain to be collected, and I should feel particularly obliged if planters and those who have any experiences to give me (natural history and sporting information would be very welcome) would be kind enough to do so. These I would propose to incorporate in an improved edition, which I look forward to bringing out when a sufficient amount of additional information has been collected. If those who have any information to give, suggestions to make, or criticisms to offer, would be kind enough to communicate with me, an improved edition might be brought out which would be highly valuable to all tropical agriculturists, and all those interested in the various subjects on which I have written.

My Indian address is Bartchinhulla, Saklaspur, Mysore State, and home address, Clifton Park, Kelso, Roxburghshire.

ROBERT H. ELLIOT.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Dr. Voelcker, Consulting Chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society of England, was, by the permission of the Society, employed for upwards of a year by the Government in India; and his "Report on the Improvement of Indian Agriculture" is an elaborate, work, of upwards of 400 pages, and contains a large body of carefully digested information, remarks, and opinions which will be of great value to the Government, and of much practical value to planters, and all tropical agriculturists.



CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.—INTRODUCTORY.

Myself and the route to Mysore in 1855.

The pioneer planters of Southern Mysore.

The life of a planter by no means a dull one.

Effects of English capital on the progress of the people and the finances of the State.

The value, in times of famine, of European settlers.

A deferred native message of thanks to the English public.

The causes that have led to an increase of famine and scarcities.

Measures to promote the digging of wells by the people.

A line of railway from Mysore to the western coast sanctioned.

Wanted, land tenures which will promote well digging and other irrigation works.

The late Dewan's opinions in favour of a fixed land tax.

Evidences of irrigation works made by occupiers being promoted by a fixed land tax.

Famine question of great importance to settlers in India.

The number of European and native coffee plantations in Mysore.

Probable annual value of coffee produced in Mysore. Manufactures in India.

Manufactures in Mysore.

Endeavours by the Dewan to develop the iron wealth of the province.

"The Mysore and Coorg Directory." Value of the Dewan's annual addresses in the Representative Assembly.

The Dewan's efforts to promote improvements of all kinds.

European settlers favourably received by officials of all classes.

Hints as to representing any matter to a Government official.

Native officials are polite and obliging.

CHAPTER II.—THE SCENERY AND WATERFALLS OF MYSORE.

General description of the Mysore country.

The climate. A healthy one for Europeans.

The beautiful scenery of the western borderlands.

The falls of Gairsoppa.

Height of the falls; difficulty of getting at them; the Lushington, Lalgali, and Majod Falls might be visited-when on the way to Gairsoppa Falls.

The best time for visiting the falls.

Description of the falls.

Startling sounds to be heard at the falls.

To the bottom of the gorge below the falls.

Wonderful combinations of sights and sounds.

The scene on the pool above the falls.

The beautiful moonlight effects.

A flying squirrel; a tiger bounding across the road.

The Cauvery Falls and the route to them.

General description of the falls.

The Gangana Chuckee Falls.

The Bar Chuckee Falls.

The Gairsoppa and Cauvery Falls contrasted.

Interesting bridges built by native engineers.

Leisure, solitude, and repose necessary to enjoy scenery.

CHAPTER III.—MYSORE—ITS GOVERNMENT AND REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY.

The early history of Mysore.

The Hindoo and Mahometan lines.

The Hindoo line restored by us in 1799.

The insurrection of 1830.

The Maharajah deposed and the country in 1831 administered by the British.

The State restored to native administration in 1881.

The people at first generally disliked the change; causes of this.

Value of an admixture of Europeans in the Mysore service.

The alleged breach of good faith as regards conferring appointments on natives in British territory.

The constitution of Mysore; terms on which it was transferred not to native rule but to native administration.

Mysore as practically under British rule as any part of British India.

After deducting sum allotted for Maharajah's personal expenditure, the remaining revenues to be spent on public purposes only.

The advantages possessed by settlers in Mysore.

The Mysore Representative Assembly.

The notification by which the Assembly was established, and the system of nominating members.

Contrast between it and the Egyptian General Assembly of the Legislative Council.

First meeting of the Assembly, Oct. 7th, 1881.

Rules of 1890 announcing a system of electing members in future.

My election in 1891 as a member of the Assembly.

Am appointed chairman of preliminary meetings.

Measures agreed to at the preliminary meetings.

Rules to regulate discussions in preliminary meetings.

Organization desired to be established; funds for working the proposed organization.

The lady students of the Maharanee's College.

The Assembly formally opened; the Dewan's address.

Gold mines, railways, roads; interference of Madras Government with proposed Mysore Irrigation Works.

Measure to promote digging of wells.

Value of the Assembly as a means of communicating intelligence amongst the people.

Forests. Elephants. Female education.

The Archaeological Survey. The Census. The municipal elections.

Reform of religious and charitable institutions. An irregular meeting of members.

A marriage law proposed. Great excitement caused thereby. Proposal adjourned.

Proposal to store grain against times of famine.

Revenue should be remitted in full when there is no crop.

My speech in the Assembly as chairman of preliminary meetings.

Members called up in order to represent grievances and wants. The marriage question again.

Influence of public opinion as regards age for consummation of marriages.

Opinion of two native gentlemen as regards my speech.

An important concession gained by the representatives.

The admirable working of the Mysore Government. General appreciation of the Dewan's administration.

Representatives have no power and do not want any. Causes of the absence of any demand for parliamentary institutions such as those in England.

Absence of general interest in the Assembly. Causes of this.

Great value of Assembly in bringing rulers and ruled together. Such Assembly more necessary now than formerly. Causes of this.

The Indian Congress. Causes of the creation of.

Started in 1885 by a small number of the educated classes.

Seditious pamphlets circulated by the Congress.

Copies bought for the Athenaeum Club.

Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, M.P. one of the sellers of the pamphlets.

Proceedings of the Congress legitimate till it fell under guidance of Mr. Hume. Excuses for Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji.

The composition of the first and second Congresses.

The third Congress. The members desire to make the laws and control the finances of India.

The Congress declares that as Indians in rural districts are not qualified to elect members, these should be elected by an electoral college composed of the flower of the educated classes.

As the desired powers are not likely to be obtained in India, the people of England must be made to believe that India is being misgoverned.

The Congress' schemes for bringing about a revolution in India. Native volunteers to be enrolled to bring pressure to bear on the Government. The Repeal of the Arms Act demanded.

The seditious pamphlets issued by the Congress.

The sums of money collected with the aid of the pamphlets.

Opinions of Congress that natives are wanting in the qualities necessary for governing India.

CHAPTER IV.—NATURAL HISTORY AND SPORT.

The advantages and pleasures of big game shooting.

Comparative risks from tigers, bears, and panthers.

Boars and other wild animals more dangerous now than formerly. Advantages of this for sportsmen.

The natural history of Mysore.

Elephants. Tigers much more numerous in former times in Mysore.

In a short time 118 caught in traps. Remarkable cessation of such captures. The balance of nature destroyed.

The spread of intelligence amongst wild animals. Tiger passes. Difference of opinion as to how tigers seize their prey.

The use of the paw in killing animals and people.

The carrying powers of tigers and panthers.

Reasons for not sitting on the ground when tiger shooting.

Illustration of risk of sitting on the ground.

Caution should be exercised when approaching a tiger supposed to be dead.

Another illustration of the risk of sitting on the ground.

Illustration of the importance of sitting motionless when obliged to sit on the ground.

An exciting rush after a wounded tiger.

Coolness and courage exhibited by a native.

Estimate of danger of tiger shooting on foot. Should not be pursued by those whoso lives are of cash value to their families.

People killed by wounded tigers. Difficulty of seeing a tiger in the jungle.

Distinguishing sight of natives superior to that of Europeans.

Tigers easily recover from wounds.

Effects on the nerves and heart from the roar of a wounded tiger.

Precautions that should be exercised by sportsmen with damaged hearts.

The lame tiger. Met in the road at night.

Tying out live baits for tigers.

Interesting instance of tiger stalking up to a live bait.

Another illustration of risk of approaching a tiger apparently dead.

Importance of using a chain when tying out a bait. Sport spoiled from a chain not being used.

Tigers eat tigers sometimes. Illustration of this.

The tiger's power of ascending trees.

Interesting instance of a jackal warning tigers of danger.

Tiger put to flight by the rearing of a horse.

Effect on a tiger of the human voice. Tigers often undecided how to act.

Tigers form plans and act in concert. Illustration of this.

Tigers of Western Ghaut forests, if unmolested, rarely dangerous to man.

Very dangerous man-eating tigers have existed in the interior of Mysore. Man-eaters enter villages. A tiger tearing off the thatch of a hut.

Great courage and determination shown by natives in connection with tigers. Illustrations of this.

The life of a planter saved by a dog attacking the tiger.

Interesting behaviour of the dog after Mr. A. was wounded.

Treatment of wounds from tigers. A native recovers from thirteen lacerated wounds and two on the head.

A mad tiger. Position of body that should be adopted when waiting for a tiger. Importance of this.

Tiger purring with evident satisfaction after having killed a man.

CHAPTER V.—BEARS, PANTHERS, JUNGLE DOGS, SNAKES, JUNGLE PETS.

Bear has two cubs at a time. Bears rapidly decreasing. Said by natives to be killed and eaten by tigers. Instances of tigers killing bears.

Bears dreaded by natives more than any animal in the jungle. Probable cause of their often attacking people. Illustration of this.

Attacked by an unwounded and unprovoked bear.

If suddenly attacked by an animal at close quarters rush towards it.

Wanton attacks made by bears on people. Approaching caves and getting bears out of them.

Great value of stink balls.

How not to attempt to get a bear out of a cave. Am caught by a hill fire.

Amusing incident at a bear's cave. A man wounded.

Value of having a good dog when out bear shooting. Am knocked down by a bear.

Panthers. Should be hunted with dogs.

Panther probably feigning death. A man killed.

The wild boar the most daring animal in the jungles. Illustration in point.

The great power of the wild boar. My manager charged by one.

Boars make shelters for themselves in the rains. The flesh of the boar not a safe food.

Jungle dogs. Said by natives to kill tigers.

The use, said by the natives to be made by the dogs, of their acrid urine.

A cross between the jungle and the domestic dog.

Curious incident connected with jungle dogs.

Great increase of jungle dogs. A reward should be offered for their destruction.

Many reported deaths from snake bites probably poisoning cases. Reasons in support of this view. From 1855 to 1893 only one death from snake bite in my neighbourhood.

The cobra not an aggressive snake. Unless hurt or provoked will probably never bite. Illustrations in support of this view.

Snakes keep a good look out. Tigers and snakes run away.

Many snakes are harmless, and some useful.

Wild animals probably require to be taught by their parents to dread man.

A tame stag. A tame flying squirrel.

A tame hornbill.

Probable cause of pets not caring to rejoin their wild congeners.

Some remarks on guns. The Paradox.

CHAPTER VI.—BISON SHOOTING.

Unless molested the bison never attacks man.

An attempt to photograph a solitary bull.

Description of the bison.

Height of bull bison. Account of an interesting friendship between a tame sambur deer and a bull bison.

Bison are often attacked by tigers.

Interesting instance of a tiger stalking up to a solitary bull.

The tiger and bull knocked over right and left.

Precautions that should be taken when following up a wounded bull.

A tracker killed by a bull. Following a wounded bull.

Stalking up to a herd. The value of peppermint lozenges.

How a wounded bull may be lost.

The value of a dog when following up a wounded bull.

Wonderful bounding power of the bison. A narrow escape from a charging bull.

Special Act required for preservation of cow bison.

CHAPTER VII.—GOLD.

The earliest tradition as regards gold in Mysore.

Explanation of gold being found on the ears of corn. Lieutenant Warren's investigations in 1800.

Native methods of procuring gold by washing and mining.

Depths to which old native pits were sunk.

Probable cause of the cessation of mining at considerable depths.

In 1873 leave first given to a European to mine for gold. Remarkable absence in Mysore of old records or inscriptions relating to gold mining.

Mr. Lavelle in 1873 applied for right to mine in Kolar.

Of the mines subsequently started all practically closed in 1882, except the Mysore mine, which began to get gold in end of 1884.

Had the Mysore Company not persevered the Kolar field would probably have been closed. Depths to which mines have been sunk. The Champion Lode.

General description of the Kolar field. Notes by a lady resident.

Life on the field. Gardening. Visitors from England.

The volunteers at the mines. Sport near the field.

Servants and supplies. Elevation and the climate. A healthy one.

Mining and the extraction of gold.

The rates of wages. No advances given to labourers.

Expenditure by the companies in Mysore in wages. Consequential results therefrom on the prosperity of the people.

Measures which the State should take to encourage the opening of new mines.

Royalty on mines that are not paying should be reduced or abolished. Act required to check gold stealing.

Some summary process should be adopted to check gold thefts.

Want of water on the field. Measures proposed for conserving it.

The want of tree planting. Other auriferous tracts in Mysore. Mr. R. Bruce Foote's report.

Brief analysis of Mr. Bruce Foote's report on the various auriferous tracts. The central group of auriferous rocks.

The west-central group.

The western group. Expects that many other old abandoned workings will be discovered in the jungly tracts.

An inexhaustible supply of beautiful porphyry near Seringapatam and close to a railway.

CHAPTER VIII.—CASTE.

Valuable to rural populations.

My inquiry limited to its rural and practical effects on life.

Its moral effects as regards the connection of the sexes.

Its value in limiting the use of alcohol.

Morality in Manjarabad superior to that of England.

Widows may contract a kind of marriage. The value of caste in socially segregating inferior from superior races.

The mental value of the separation caused by caste.

The separation caused by caste has not hindered advancement amongst the rural population. The Coorgs an instance of this.

Disadvantages of caste as regards town populations.

Instances of the evils of caste amongst the higher classes in the towns.

Inquiry as to how far caste has acted beneficially in opposing the existing interpretation of Christianity.

Worthlessness of pure dogmas when adopted by a degraded people.

Native Christians readily revert to devil worship in cases of danger or sickness.

Native Christians neither better nor worse than the low-classes from which they are usually drawn. Experience of the Abbe Dubois.

The upper class peasantry having to give up caste would be injured by being converted.

The town population would not be injured by conversion.

Causes of the outcry against caste.

Its alleged tendencies.

The way to retain the good and lessen the evil of caste.

To become a Christian our missionaries compel the entire abandonment of caste. Their version of Christianity wisely rejected.

Mischievous action of our missionaries as regards caste. Their erroneous views a bar to the progress of Christianity.

Bishop Heber's "Letter on Caste."

Bishop Wilson's fatal "Circular" requiring absolute abandonment of caste by Christians.

Secession of native Christians in consequence of the "Circular." Erroneous views contained in the Report of the Madras Commissioners.

Views of the Tanjore missionaries as regards caste.

Mr. Schwartz's opinions.

The Tanjore missionaries not unfavourable to the retention of caste by their converts.

Inquiry into the origin of caste.

No connection between caste and idolatry. They may and do exist apart.

Caste as it exists in Ceylon.

The way in which caste probably did originate.

The Jews a strictly guarded caste.

Caste difficulties as regards taking the Sacrament.

Its sanitary advantages.

Caste no bar to the exercise of hospitality and charity.

Advantages of caste in increasing hospitality and charity.

Caste has a levelling as well as a keeping down tendency.

Instances of people rising into a superior caste.

Rigidity of caste laws much exaggerated. They vary in different places. Occasional violations of caste law condoned. Remarkable instance of this.

Infringement of caste when out tiger shooting.

Instance of variation in caste law. Caste apt to be made the scapegoat of every Indian difficulty.

Mr. Pope's remarks on the effects of caste.

Mr. Raikes's remarks on the evil effects of caste. Thinks that it is the cause of infanticide.

Instance to show that infanticide can exist amongst people free from caste. Polyandrous habits not necessarily a cause of infanticide.

Summary of principal conclusions arrived at.

Curious customs of the Marasa Wokul tribe in Mysore.

The effect of caste on the transmission of acquired aptitudes.

CHAPTER IX.—COFFEE PLANTING IN COORG.

Description and the history of Coorg.

Conquered and annexed by us in 1834. My first visit to Coorg in 1857. The pioneer planters.

Planting without shade caused the failure of many of the plantations.

After shade was introduced coffee flourished.

European and native plantations. Their number and the probable yield from them. Expenditure per acre.

The kinds of manure used. Experiments by an analytical chemist.

Proportions of manure varied according to the condition of the coffee. The time in which manure should be applied. Applications of burnt earth.

Widespread results arising from the expenditure on plantations in Coorg.

Rates of wages, and system of procuring labourers. Leaf disease and Borer.

Remedies experimented on as regards leaf disease and Borer.

Primary cause of the existence of so much Borer. The terms on which Government lands are sold for planting.

Reasons why certain of the reserved State forests should be given out for planting.

Cinchona and Ceara rubber planting tried and abandoned. Coffee seed introduced from Brazil, and other countries, without any apparent advantage. Liberian coffee tried experimentally.

The capital spent on labour and the consequential results of this on agriculture. My visit to Coorg in 1891.

The route from Mysore. The coffee works at Hunsur. Interesting adventure with a panther.

To Mr. Rose's estate near Polibetta. Description of Bamboo district.

Life in the Bamboo district. The club, church, and co-operative store.

Visits to plantations. Left for Mercara.

The Retreat. Mr. Meynell's house. Its kitchen arrangements, etc.

Mr. Mann's coffee garden at Mercara. The large profits from it. To the Hallery estate six miles from Mercara.

Visits to several estates. To the Coovercolley estate. Mr. Mangles's.

Left Coovercolley for Manjarabad in Mysore.

General observations on coffee planting in Coorg. Its flourishing condition. More attention should be paid to shade.

Defects as regards shade. More attention to it would lessen Borer.

Manures used on the best kept up estates.

The profits that may be expected from good, well-managed estates. The great want of a Game Preservation Act.

CHAPTER X.—COFFEE PLANTING IN MYSORE.

An agreeable life for an active intelligent man who must work somewhere.

Qualities necessary to make a successful planter.

The work not hard. The climate agreeable and healthy. The elevation of the coffee districts above sea level.

The changes that may be taken in the slack season by planters. The durability of well-shaded plantations.

Shaded plantations a very permanent property. The profits of coffee. Case of an estate bought with borrowed money.

Analysis of yield, expenses, and profits on a Manjarabad estate.

Probable profits on estates in the northern part of Mysore.

From want of information coffee plantations in Mysore not saleable at good prices. Failure of coffee in Ceylon. This gave coffee generally an undeservedly bad name.

Early notices of coffee in India. Its early history in Mysore.

Failure of the variety of coffee first introduced.

The successful introduction of the Coorg variety of coffee.

Mysore coffee fetches the highest price in the London market. Original Mysore coffee land tenures.

The new Coffee Land Rules introduced in 1885.

In the south of Mysore all coffee land probably taken up. In north, land reported to be still available. Planters well satisfied with the Government.

Advances to labourers. Legislation as regards them much needed.

Proposed measure to meet the advances to labourers difficulty.

Legislation required to amend the extraditions laws.

The New Cattle Trespass Act. The want of a Wild Birds' Protection Act. The neglect of game preservation.

In consequence of game destruction tigers forced to prey heavily on village cattle. Great losses in consequence.

Cruelty of native hunters. Evidences of extermination of game birds.

The want of a Government Agricultural Chemist. The discovery of a new hybrid coffee plant.

Enormous yield from it.

CHAPTER XI.—SHADE.

General remarks on the importance of shade.

The governing principle as regards shade for coffee.

The most desirable kinds of shade trees. Those of less desirable kinds.

The Jack. Its merits and defects.

The Atti. Good when young, less desirable when old.

The Noga. The objections to relying on this tree.

Other kinds of less desirable shade trees.

Albizzia Moluccana. Said to be a valuable tree for shade.

Methods adopted when forming a shaded plantation.

Great advantages of clearing without burning the forest.

The order in which shade trees should be planted.

The young shade trees require shade. The charcoal tree a good nurse.

The management of young shade trees.

The evils arising from excessive trimming of side branches of shade trees. Planting under the shade of the original forest trees.

The value of leaving marginal belts of forest. The danger of a running fire.

The quantity of shade required for varying aspects and gradients.

The great differences between northern and southern aspects as regards heat.

Western and eastern aspects.

Importance of attending to the gradients, the quality of the soil, and its exposure to drying winds.

Elevation and rainfall govern quantity of shade that should be kept. The thinning, and lopping lower boughs of shade trees.

Much knowledge and experience required in judicious thinning.

More shade will be required as trees become lofty.

Importance of at once planting up spots where shade is deficient, in order to keep out the Borer insect.

Planting out young shade trees. The removal of parasites from shade trees.

Preparation of shade tree cuttings before planting out. How to grow young charcoal-tree plants. Valuable as nurses.

CHAPTER XII.—MANURE.

How shade complicates the economical and effective manuring of coffee.

Bulk manures as a rule should not be applied to land directly under shade trees, but to more open spaces.

Less manure should be applied to coffee directly under shade trees.

Manure should be varied on different aspects. The quantity that should be annually supplied.

Bones may be seldom used if lime is regularly applied.

A considerable amount of manure required even though the loss from crops is small.

A test of land being sufficiently supplied with manure. The quantity of manure probably required.

The quantity of manure that should be put down at a time.

Danger from over-manuring, especially in ease of light soils.

Ridges should be more heavily manured than hollows. The time of year when manures should be applied.

Advantages of manuring at the end of the monsoon.

Bearing that the time of applying manures has on leaf disease. Mr. Marshall Ward's remarks as to this.

The various methods of applying manures.

In the case of steep land the manure should be buried in trenches. Farmyard manure. Its great value for coffee.

Substitutes for farmyard manure.

Value of forest land top soil as a manure, and as a substitute for farmyard manure.

The comparative cost of farmyard manure and top soil. Remarkable result from an application of pink-coloured soil.

If top soil costs the same as farmyard manure the former is better. Reasons for this being so. A compost of pink soil and manures may be made, which will equal good farmyard manure, and cost but little more.

The manurial value of pulp, and of dry fallen leaves.

Manurial value of green twigs of trees, ferns and wood ashes.

Night soil. Lime.

Bonedust. Fish manure.

Oil-cakes. Proportion of phosphate of lime in castor cake.

Nitrates of potash and soda.

Potash. A manure of doubtful value in the case of Mysore soils.

Attempt to ascertain value of potash as a manure for coffee.

How to grow young plants in old soils. Coprolites, discovery of, in Mysore.

An agricultural chemist wanted for the province. A careful record should be kept of manure applied.

Bringing round a neglected plantation. Steps that should be taken.

Manurial experiments.

Native manurial practises should be studied. Application of various soils as top dressing by native cultivators. The best and most economical way of manuring coffee has yet to be discovered.

Manurial experiments need not be costly.

CHAPTER XIII.—NURSERIES, TOPPING, HANDLING, PRUNING, ETC.

The selection of seed.

Irrigated coffee near Bangalore. Mr. Meenakshia's gardens. The selection of a site for a nursery.

The best time for putting down the seed.

Plants should be grown in baskets. The pits for vacancy plants.

Topping. The best heights for.

The time when trees should be topped.

Handling and the removal of suckers. Its importance as regards rot and leaf disease.

Pruning.

Management of pruning, with reference to rot and leaf disease.

The removal of moss and rubbing down the trees. The cultivation of the soil.

Difficulties connected with the proper cultivation of the soil.

The best tools for digging. Renovation pits.

Renovation pits valuable as water-holes. Their value in connection with water conservation.

CHAPTER XIV.—THE DISEASES OF COFFEE.

Leaf disease, or attacks of Hemeleia Vastatrix.

Mr. Marshall Ward's report on leaf disease in Ceylon. Leaf disease probably always existed in Mysore. Said to have caused much loss on some estates.

Losses of leaves from other causes commonly attributed to leaf disease. No reason to fear it if land is well cultivated, manured, and shaded. Evidence that shade can control leaf disease.

Bad kinds of shade trees cannot control, but increase leaf disease.

Conditions under which leaf disease is liable to occur in the cases of good soil under good shade trees.

The importance of manure and cultivation with reference to leaf disease. Mr. Graham Anderson's, Mr. Marshall Ward's and Mr. Brooke Mockett's opinions. The Coorg plant not so liable to be attacked as the Chick plant.

The Borer insect.

Borer is worst under bad kinds of shade trees, but can be controlled by good caste trees.

Conditions favorable to attacks of the Borer.

Reasons for thinking that the usual practice of destroying all bored trees is of little use.

The Borer can only be suppressed by adequate shade. Rot, or pellicularia koleroga. Aggravated by want of free circulation of air.

Measures for lessening rot. Importance of meeting monsoon with mature leaves on the coffee trees.

Green-bugs. None in Mysore, Receipt for killing them used on Nilgiri Hills.

CHAPTER XV.—THE SELECTION OF LAND FOR PLANTATIONS, AND THE VALUATION OF COFFEE PROPERTY.

Much uncleared land available in northern part of Mysore.

The various classes of forest lands.

Much land unsuitable from over heavy rainfall. Mr. Graham Anderson's return of rainfall. His interesting memorandum.

Elevation of plantations above sea level. With a few exceptions not much difference in value of the coffee of various estates.

The especial importance of aspect in Mysore.

The most favourable gradients. Various kinds of soil.

Comparative healthiness of the different coffee districts in Mysore.

Various considerations to be taken into account when valuing land.

An old established estate may not necessarily be an old plantation.

The quality of the shade ought largely to affect a valuation of a property.

Facilities that should be considered when valuing a property.

Impossible to offer opinion as to value of coffee property, till facts as regard it are widely known, and the line is opened to western coast.

CHAPTER XVI.—HOW TO MAKE AN ESTATE PAY, AND THE ORDER OF THE WORK.

Inferior parts of estates should be thrown out of cultivation.

The losses caused by giving advances.

Advances not so necessary as formerly, as labour rates are higher now.

Advances to Maistries to bring labour.

Minor sources of loss. The order in which the various works should be performed.

CHAPTER XVII.—THE MANAGEMENT OF ABSENTEE ESTATES.

"The fact is, we all require a little looking after."

Advisable to give manager an interest in the estate. Managers for estates in Mysore require to be very carefully selected.

A clear understanding essential between proprietor and manager.

Powers of attorney should be carefully drawn up. The proprietor entirely in the power of the manager.

The value of the eye of the owner. Every estate should have an information book.

Points to be entered in the information book.

Hints to managers.

CHAPTER XVIII.—THE PLANTER'S BUNGALOW AND THE AMENITIES OF AN ESTATE.

The best form of bungalow.

The kitchen arrangements.

The aspect of the bungalow and ground around it.

Cash value of the amenities of an estate. The flower garden.

Building materials.

How to keep out white ants.

Coolie lines.

Tree planting for timber and fuel.

Precautions for the conservation of health.

Hints as regards food, and the table generally.

Suggestions as to books and newspapers.

Importance of having some interesting pursuit.

The minor amenities of an estate.

The conditions of a planter's life now ameliorated by railways.

Mysore out of the reach of House of Commons faddists. Advantages of this.

CHAPTER XIX.—THE INDIAN SILVER QUESTION.

On June 26th, 1893, gold standard introduced and mints closed to free coinage of silver.

Movement originated in India by the servants of Government, and from no other class whatever.

Some merchants afterwards joined in the agitation. Gold to be received at the mints at a ratio of 1s. 4d. per rupee. Sovereigns in payment of sums due to Government to be received at the rate of fifteen rupees a sovereign.

Cash effects of the measure. For benefit of English reader figures given in pounds sterling, a rupee taken at 2s. Rupee prices little changed in India, China and Ceylon. Difficulty of forming exact estimates as to this.

If gold value of silver can be forced up from 1s. 3d. to 1s. 4d., Indian Government will gain about one and a half million sterling on its home remittances, and the people lose about seven millions on their exports.

The Indian Finance Minister contemplates a rise to 1s. 6d. eventually.

A rise to 1s. 6d. would give the Exchequer a gain on home remittances of L4,500,000 and entail on the people a loss L21,000,000, equal to a tax of 21 per cent. on the exports of India. Effects of this on the producers.

The producers of coffee in Mysore alone would lose L56,000 a year were exchange forced up to 1s. 4d., and L156,000 a year were it raised to 1s. 6d. All producers in other parts of India of articles of export would be similarly affected.

If the rupee is artificially forced up by the State, the shock to confidence will repel capital and injure credit. The first effect will show itself in a lessened demand for labour.

The effects of increased employment on the finances. The bearing of the measure on famines and scarcity. It will intensify the effects of both, and make them more costly to the State.

The measure has arrayed all classes against the Government, except its own servants and a very few of the merchants.

The effects of the measure on the tea-planters of India and Ceylon. It must heavily affect both. If Ceylon establishes a mint, tea-planters there will have advantages over their rivals in India.

Coffee planters of India and Ceylon will he prejudicially affected in their competition with silver-using countries. Evil effects of the measure on the trade, manufactures, and railways of India.

The measure rotten from financial, political, and economical points of view.

The Viceroy and the supporters of the measure have admitted that it must be injurious to the producers of India. Sir William Hunter's admirable survey of the former and present financial condition of India.

The Viceroy has publicly declared that cheap silver has acted as "a stimulus" to the progress of India.

The unfair action of Lord Herschell's Committee. Not a single representative of the producing classes examined. But the majority of witnesses were dead against the monetary policy of the Government. The Currency Committee reported against the weight of the evidence. The most important points not inquired into at all by the Committee.

The Indian Government and Currency Committee financially panic-stricken, and in dread of effects of repeal of Sherman Act. The financial condition not such as to warrant panic. Taxational resources not exhausted.

Sir William Hunter's statement proves that the financial conditions were full of hope. The dread that the repeal of the Sherman Act might reduce rupee to 1s. Examination of the subject on that supposition.

By a rate of 1s. a rupee the Government would lose about seven millions on its home remittances, and the people of India gain fourteen millions on their exports. Mr. Gladstone's Government adopted Home Rule Bill, and Currency Measure in one year. Both forced on by tyrannical action. Gladstonian action as to Opium Commission equally tyrannical.

The monetary measure a policy of protection for the benefit of the silver-using countries that compete with India.

Some of the evils the measure, if successful, must cause. The Indian Finance Minister declared that "it ought not to be attempted unless under the pressure of necessity." No necessity arisen. An independent body wanted to efficiently check the Government. The Duke of Wellington's opinion.

India and Mexico compared. Mr. Carden's Consular Report.

Cheap silver advantageous to Mexico. The losses to the Government and railways which arise from gold payments are, comparatively speaking, a fixed quantity, while the gain to the people from cheap silver, produces consequential benefits far beyond reach of calculation. These remarks equally applicable to India. Wanted, a Government that can see this.



CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.—PROGRESS IN MYSORE.

As I now turn my thoughts back to the year 1855, when, being then in my eighteenth year, I sailed for India to seek my fortunes in the jungles of Mysore, it is difficult to believe that the journey is still the same, or that India is still the same country on the shores of which I landed so long ago. But after all, as a matter of fact, the journey is, practically speaking, not the same, and still less is India the same India which I knew in 1855. For the route across Egypt, which was then partly by rail, partly by water, and partly across the desert in transits, the bumping of which I even now distinctly remember, has been exchanged for the Suez Canal, and the frequent steamers with their accelerated rate of speed have altered all the relations of distances, and on landing at Bombay the traveller of 1855 would now find it difficult to recognize the place. For then there were the old fort walls and ditches, and narrow streets filled with a straggling throng of carts and people, while now the fort walls and ditches no longer exist, and the traveller drives into a city with public buildings, broad roads and beautiful squares and gardens, that would do credit to any capital in the world, and sees around him all the signs of advanced and advancing civilization. Then as, perhaps, he views the scene from the Tower of the Elphinstone College, and looks down on the beautiful city, on the masts of the shipping lying in the splendid harbour, and on the moving throngs of people to whom we have given peace and order, what thoughts must fill his mind! And what thoughts further, as on turning to view the scene without the city he sees on one side of it the tall chimneys of the numerous mills which have sprung up in recent times, and which tell of the conjunction of English skill and capital with the cheap hand-labour of the East—a combination that is destined, and at no very distant period ahead, to produce remarkable effects. But I must not wander here into the consideration of matters to which I shall again have occasion to refer when I come to remark on the wonderful progress made in India in recent years owing to the introduction of English skill and capital, and shall now briefly describe my route to the western jungles of Mysore.

When I landed in Bombay, in 1855, the journey to the Native State of Mysore, now so easy and simple, was one requiring much time and no small degree of trouble, for the railway lines had then advanced but little—the first twenty miles in all India having been only opened near Bombay in 1853. A land journey then was not to be thought of, and as there were no coasting-steamers, I was compelled to take a passage in a Patama (native sailing craft) which was proceeding down the western coast with a cargo of salt which was stowed away in the after-part of the vessel. Over this was a low roofed and thatched house, the flooring of which was composed of strips of split bamboo laid upon the salt. On this I placed my mattress and bedding. My provisions for the voyage were very simple—a coop with some fowls, some tea, sugar, cooking utensils, and other small necessaries of life. A Portuguese servant I had hired in Bombay cooked my dinner and looked after me generally. We sailed along the sometimes bare, and occasionally palm-fringed, shores with that indifference to time and progress which is often the despair and not unfrequently the envy of Europeans. The hubble-bubble passed from mouth to mouth, and the crew whiled away the evening hours with their monotonous chants. We always anchored at night; sometimes we stopped for fishing, and once ran into a small bay—one of those charming scenic gems which can only be found in the eastern seas—to land some salt and take in cocoa-nuts and other items. As for the port of Mangalore, for which I was bound, it seemed to be, though only about 450 miles from Bombay, an immense distance away, and practically was nearly as far as Bombay is from Suez. At last, after a nine days' sail, we lay to off the mouth of the harbour into which, for reasons best known to himself, the captain of the craft did not choose to enter, and I was taken ashore in a canoe to be kindly received by the judge of the collectorate of South Kanara, to whom I had a letter of introduction.

After spending some pleasant days at Mangalore I set out for Manjarabad, the talook or county which borders on the South Kanara district—in what is called a manshiel—a kind of open-sided cot slung to a bamboo pole which projects far enough in front and rear to be placed with ease on the shoulders of the bearers. Four of these men are brought into play at once, while four others run along to relieve their fellows at intervals. I started in the afternoon, and was carried up the banks of a broad river by the side of which hero and there the road wound pleasantly along. In the course of a few hours night fell, and then all nature seemed to come into active life with the hum of insects, the croaking of frogs, and various other indications of an abounding animal life. Presently I was lulled to sleep by the monotonous chant of the bearers—sleep only partially broken when changes of the whole set of bearers had to be made—and awoke the following morning to find myself some fifty miles from the coast, and amidst the gorges of the Ghauts, with vast heights towering upwards, and almost all around, while the river, which had now sunk to what in English ideas would still seem to be one of considerable size, appeared as if it had just emerged from the navel of a mountain-barrier some miles ahead. After a few miles more we passed the last hamlet of what was then called the Company's Country, and leaving the inhabited lands—if indeed in a European sense they may be called so—behind us, began to ascend the twenty miles of forest-clad gorges which lead up into the tableland of Mysore. The ascent was necessarily slow, and it was not till late in the afternoon that I saw, some 500 feet above me, and at a total elevation of about 3,200 feet above sea-level, the white walls of the only planter's bungalow in the southern part of Mysore. To this pioneer of our civilization—Mr. Frederick Green, who had begun work in 1843—I had a letter of introduction, and was most kindly received, and put in the way of acquiring land which I started on and still hold. To the south, in the adjacent little province of Coorg—now, as we shall afterwards see, an extensive coffee-field—the first European plantation had been started the year before, i.e., 1854, while to the north some fifty to seventy miles away the country was, in a European sense, occupied by only three English, or, to be exact, Scotch planters. In 1856 I started active life as a planter on my own account, about twelve miles away from the estate of Mr. Green, while in the same year two other planters—Scotchmen by the way—made their appearance. The southern part of Mysore was thus occupied by four planters, and we were all about twelve miles from each other. It is difficult to conceive the state of isolation in which we lived, and as we were all Europeanly speaking single handed, and could seldom leave home, we often had not for weeks together an opportunity of seeing a single white face, and so rare indeed was a visit from a neighbour that, when one was coming to see me, I used to sit on a hill watching for the first glimpse of him, like a shipwrecked mariner on a desert island watching for the glimpse of a sail on the horizon. As for the Indian mutinies, which broke out the year after I had started work, they might have been going on in Norway as far as we were concerned; none of us at all appreciated the importance and gravity of the events that were occurring, and one of my neighbours said that it was not worth while trying to understand the situation, and that we had better wait for the book that would be sure to come out when things had settled down. And the native population around us appeared to know as little of the mutinies as we did. They seemed to be aware that some disturbance was going on somewhere in the north, and that represented the whole extent of their knowledge of the subject.

I have described our life as having been one of great isolation so far as European society was concerned, but I never felt it to be a dull one, nor did my neighbours ever complain of it, though we only took a holiday of a few weeks in the year. But we had plenty of work, and big game shooting, and the occupation was an interesting one, and as I even now return with pleasure every winter to my planter's life, this proves that my earlier days must have left behind them many pleasant associations. And the occupation and sport were really all we had to depend on. We had few books, nor any means of getting them, for I need hardly say that pioneer planters, who have to keep themselves and their coffee till the latter comes into bearing, cannot afford to buy anything that can be dispensed with. But after all this perhaps was no disadvantage, for, as a great moral philosopher has pointed out, nothing tends to weaken the resources of the mind so much as a miscellaneous course of reading unaccompanied (as it usually is, I may remark) by reflection. The management of people, the business of an estate, the exercise of the inventive powers, the cultivation of method, the sharpening of the observing and combining faculties, which are so well developed by big game shooting, yield real education, or the leading out and development of the mental resources, while books provide the individual merely with instruction which has often a tendency to cramp and even to fossilize the mind.

I have said at the outset, that the journey to India is not the same as it was in 1855, and that still less is India the same India, and I may certainly say that still less is Western Mysore the Western Mysore of 1855, except that its beautiful scenery is as beautiful as ever. For our planting is not like that of Ceylon, where the planter, like the locust, finds a paradise in front to leave a desert in his rear—a desert of bare lull sides from which the beautiful forest has been entirely swept away, while the most valuable constituents of the soil have been washed down to the river beds. And when standing in 1893 on a lull in my district of Manjarabad, and looking around, I can see no sign of change in the landscape from the days of 1855, except that the woodland paths leading from village to village are much more distinctly marked, owing to the great increase of labourers employed in the numerous native and European plantations, which now stretch in an unbroken line along all the western border of Mysore. And no sign of change is apparent, because all the coffee is planted either under the shade of the original forest trees, or under the shade of trees which have been planted to take their place. But all else is practically and largely changed by the agency of a universal progress, which has been brought about by British government and the introduction of British capital, skill, and energy. And this progress, I am glad to be able to say, has benefited all classes of the community, and the labouring classes by far the most of all, and the results as regards those are so striking, so interesting, and so much more widely diffused than could at first sight be thought possible, and are, as I shall show, of such vast importance to the finances of the State, that they are well worthy of special attention. Had the Government been aware of the enormous financial value to the State of the introduction of English capital, I feel sure that much greater efforts would have been made to stimulate European enterprise, and that the progress of India would have been much accelerated all along the line.

When I started my plantation in 1858, the pay of a labourer was 2 rupees 4 annas (4s. 6d.) a month. It is now, throughout the numerous plantations in Mysore, from six to seven rupees a month, and a labourer can live on about two rupees a month. Such a statement made of any country would indicate a satisfactory degree of progress; but whereas in England it would simply mean a greater ability in the working classes to live in an improved condition, and perhaps some improvement in the condition of the shopkeepers with whom they dealt, in India it means the creation of a social and ever wide-spreading revolution. For when in India capital is introduced, and employment on a large scale is afforded to the people, the poorer of the peasant classes are at once able to free themselves from debt, and the labourers soon save enough money to enable them to start in agriculture, coffee culture, or any culture within, their reach. The result of this, in my experience, has been most remarkable. When I started in Manjarabad, for instance, the planters relied solely on labour procured from the adjacent villages. But now the local labourer is almost a thing of the past, for he has taken to agriculture and coffee culture, and now only occasionally works for a short time to earn some money to pay his taxes. When this change began, the planters had of course to go further afield for labour, but merely to produce over again a similar result by enabling labourers from distant villages to do what the local labourers in the coffee districts had done, and thus for labour we have to operate on ever-widening circles, till at last I have heard it remarked that the Kanarese language is often of little use, and the native overseers on my estate have complained that they now often cannot make the labourers understand them. And this of course is not surprising, as at one moment the overseer may have to deal with labourers from any one of the villages between Mysore and the Western Sea, and at another with people from villages in the Madras Presidency, far away on the route to the Bay of Bengal. Field after field, and village after village, has thus been irrigated by that capital for which India thirsts, and which, as we have seen, produces such wide-spreading social effects on the welfare of the people, and, consequently, on the resources of the State—enabling land to be more largely and fully developed, wells to be dug, gardens to be made, and the people to pay with greater ease the demands of the Government. But there is yet another point of great importance to notice as regards the introduction into India of European capital, with its accompanying effects—effects which largely enhance its value—namely, those arising from setting the natives practical examples of both method, skill, and energetic action. I allude to the bearing of these forces upon famine—a subject well worthy of some passing remarks, more especially because in Mysore we can furnish proofs of the value in times of famine of having Europeans settled in the country.

The actual money value of the infuse of English capitalists, and its bearing on the resources of the State, and in enabling the people the better to contest with famine and scarcity, is sufficiently apparent, but it was only when the terrible famine of 1876-77 (which cost Mysore the loss of about a fifth of its population, an immense sum of money, and crippled its resources for years) broke out that the value of having a European agency ready at hand to grapple with famine, and honestly administer the funds available, was absolutely proved. It would be tedious to go into this subject at any length, indeed I have not space to do so, and I can only say that, as far as I could learn, the only satisfactory treatment of the great famine was that initiated and carried out by the planters, or, to be at once just and exact, I should rather say that the system adopted was initiated by one of our leading planters—Mr. Graham Anderson—who, and entirely at his own cost, was the first to start and maintain on his estate a nursery for children. He saw that if the parents could only be relieved of their children the former could work and be able to maintain themselves, while all their efforts would be insufficient to maintain at once themselves and their children. The nursery system that was then initiated by Mr. Anderson, was adopted by other planters who were subsequently aided by the assistance of money from the Mansion House Fund, and Mr. Anderson was formally appointed by the Government as President of the relief operations in the Southern Mysore coffee district, and, owing to his energy, example, and administrative still, most satisfactory results were obtained. I have before me, and written by Mr. Anderson, a full account of all the famine relief operations he had charge of, showing the assistance afforded by the planters in employing labour from which, owing to the weakness of the people, very little return could be got; and moreover by sheltering in their lines the wandering starvelings who were moving about the country. I can only regret that want of space prevents my going into the subject more in detail. I must, however, at least find room for his concluding remarks, in order to deliver for him a message he has long been desirous of sending to those of the English public who subscribed to the Mansion House Fund.

"If there is one thing," writes Mr. Anderson, "I am certain of it is this, that although some people think that natives have no gratitude, there has never been anything concerning which the natives have been so loud in their praise as the unbounded generosity of the London public, who in time of fearful distress came forward with money to feed and clothe hundreds and thousands of starving poor. Many a poor woman and man have asked me to express blessings to 'the people of my village' who rescued them in their dire distress. Perhaps you can give this message, which, as an outsider, I have never had an opportunity of doing." I only wish I could add that the gratitude of the Government was equal to that of the natives. Yes, Mr. Graham Anderson was an outsider, and the Government (Mysore was under British rule at the time) was evidently determined that he should remain so in the fullest sense of the word, for he never even received a letter of thanks for his valuable and gratuitous services, or the smallest notice of any kind. I have no hesitation in praising most highly the action of the planters, because, though one of them, I was not in India at the time, and, though my estate manager took an early and active part in relief operations, I had nothing personally to do with the famine relief work.

The subject of famines is of such vast importance to the people, the Government, and all who have any stake in India, that I think it well to offer here some remarks on them, and also suggest some measures for their prevention, or perhaps I should rather say for their mitigation.

The causes that would lead to an increase of famines in India were fully pointed out by me in 1871 in the "Experiences of a Planter," in letters to the "Times," and in the evidence I gave when examined by the India Finance Committee of the House of Commons in 1872. There were two principal causes—the spread of the use of money instead of grain as a medium of exchange, and such a restricted development of communications that, while these were sufficient to drain the countries in the interior of their grain, they were not sufficiently developed to enable the grain to be brought back again in sufficient quantities when it was necessary to do so in times of famine. Till, then, communications were developed to an adequate extent, it was quite clear that India would be much more exposed to risk from famines than she was in the days when grain was largely used as a medium of exchange, and when, besides, grain, from the want of communication, was largely kept in the country. The people, in short, in the olden days, and even for some time after I landed in India, hoarded grain, and in times of scarcity they encroached upon their supplies of buried grain, whereas now they hoard money, which in time of famine can go but a very short way in buying grain. The statement that an increase of famines would be sure to ensue from the causes above indicated is amply corroborated by the facts. There is no evidence to show that droughts have increased, but there can be no doubt that in comparatively recent times famines and scarcities have. And in looking over the list of famines from 1769 to 1877, I find that, comparing the first 84 years of the period in question with the years from then up to 1877, famines have more than doubled in number, and scarcities, causing great anxiety to the State, seem certainly to be increasing. That the latter are so we have strong evidence in Mysore, and in looking over the annual addresses of the Dewan at the meeting of the Representative Assembly of Mysore, I am struck with the frequent allusion to scarcities and grave apprehensions of famine. In his address of 1881, only four years after the great famine of 1876-77, the Dewan refers to "the period of intense anxiety through which the Government and the people have passed owing to the recent failure of the rains. But," he adds, "such occasional failure of rains is almost a normal condition of the Province, and the Government must always remain in constant anxiety as to the fearful results which must follow from them." In his address of 1884 the Dewan says that "the condition of the Province is again causing grave anxiety." In the address of 1886 the Dewan says "this is the first year since the rendition of the Province (in 1881) in which the prospects of the season have caused no anxiety to the Government." But in the address of 1891 lamentations again occur, and we find the Dewan congratulating the members on the narrow escape, owing to rain having fallen just in time, they had had from famine. But our able Dewan—Sir K. Sheshadri Iyer, K.C.I.E.—has taken measures which must ultimately place the Province in a safe position, or at least in as safe a position as it can be placed. He has seen, and it has been amply proved by our experience in the Madras Presidency during the famine of 1876-77, that the only irrigation work that can withstand a serious drought is a deep well, and he has brought out a most admirable measure for encouraging the making of them by the ryots. The principal features of this are that money, to be repaid gradually over a long series of years, is to be advanced by the State on the most easy terms, and that, in the event of a ryot taking a loan, and water not being found, or found in inadequate quantity, the Government takes upon itself the entire loss. But the results from this highly liberal and valuable measure cannot be adequately arrived at for many years to come, and in the meanwhile the risks from famine go on, and as the Dewan has seen that these can only be immediately grappled with by an extension of the railway system, he has always been, anxious to make a line to the western frontier of Mysore, if the Madras Government would agree to carry it on to Mangalore on the western coast. But the Madras Government felt itself unable to find funds to carry out the project, and hence Mysore, all along its western frontier, was, from a railway point of view, completely imprisoned, and there seemed to be no prospect of anything being done to connect the Province with the western seaboard for many years to come. However, a Mysore planter last year sought a personal interview with Viscount Cross, the Secretary of State for India, who has always taken a great interest in railway extensions, and the result of this was that Lord Cross initiated action which resulted in prompt steps being taken. Early this year a preliminary survey of the route from a point on the line in the interior of Mysore, via the Manjarabad Ghaut, to Mangalore was made, and I am in a position to state that the completion of this much and long-wanted line may be regarded as a thing of the near future. After this line has been made a line will be constructed from Hassan to Mysore, via Holi Nursipur, and Yedatora, and from Mysore a line will be run, via Nunjengode[2] to Erode, the junction of the Madras and South Indian Railways. I may mention here that Sir Andrew Clarke, in his able Minute of 1879 on Indian Harbours, says that "Mangalore undoubtedly admits of being converted into a useful harbour," though he adds that "the project may lie over until the prospects of a railway connecting it with the interior are better than at present." As the immediate prospects of a line being made are quite secure, it is of great importance to call attention to this matter now, as it is to the manifest interest of both Governments that the harbour of Mangalore should be improved as soon as possible.

After having done so much to contend against famine-producing causes, it may seem that the Dewan might rest and be thankful; but it must be considered that, though railways will undoubtedly enable the State to save life, it will have to pay a ruinously heavy charge whenever a widespread and serious drought occurs, and, sooner or later, it seems inevitable that such a drought must occur. And it is therefore perfectly evident, that without the extension of deep wells the province cannot be placed in a thoroughly sound financial position. It is, then, of obvious importance to remove at once the great obstacle that stands in the way of the rapid addition to the number of deep wells. That obstacle, and a most formidable obstacle it is, as I shall fully show, lies in the fact that the present form of land tenure in Mysore (under which also about four-fifths of the land of British India are held) does not provide a sufficient security for investors in landed improvements. By the existing tenure the land is held by the occupier from the State at a rental which is fixed for thirty years, and after that it is liable to augmentation. The Government, it is true, has declared that it will not tax improvements, and that, for instance, if a man digs a well no augmentation of rent will be demanded for the productive power thus added to the land, but it has reserved to itself wide powers of enhancing the rent on general grounds, such as a rise in prices, improved communication, etc., and to what amount the enhancement may go the ryot cannot tell. And hence we find that the representatives in the Mysore Assembly have repeatedly argued that it is owing to the uncertainty as to what the rise of rent may be at the close of each thirty years' period that improvements are not more largely made, and have therefore prayed for a permanently fixed assessment. Now I am not prepared to say that, for the present at any rate, it would be wise to grant a fixed assessment on all lands, but I am quite sure that it would be wise to grant, for the irrigable area watered by a well dug at an occupier's expense, a permanent assessment at the rent now charged on the land. The Government, it is true, would sacrifice the rise it might obtain on the land at the close of each lease, but, as a compensation for this—and an ample compensation I feel sure it would be—the State would save in two ways, for it would never have to grant remissions of revenue on such lands, as it now often has to do in the case of dry lands, and with every well dug the expenditure in time of famine would be diminished. Such a measure, then, as I have proposed, would at once benefit the State and draw out for profitable investment much capital that is now lying idle. There is nothing new, I may add, in this proposal, for it was adopted by the old native rulers, who granted fixed tenures on favourable terms to those making irrigation works at their own expense. An English-speaking Mysore landholder once said to me, "I will not dig wells on my lands under my present tenure, but give me an assessment fixed for ever, and I will dig lots of wells." The present landed policy of the Indian Government[3] is as shallow as it is hide-bound. It wants, like a child, to eat its cake and still remain in possession of the article. It is most anxious to see private capital invested in land, and it still wants to retain the power of every thirty years indefinitely augmenting the land revenue on general grounds. Surely it must be apparent to minds of even the humblest calibre that these two things are utterly incompatible!

I may mention that there is a strong party in India in favour of granting at once a permanent assessment at the existing rate of rent for all lands, and in reference to this point it may be interesting to give the following passage from a letter I once received from the late Prime Minister of Mysore, Mr. Rungacharlu, the minister who started the first Representative Assembly that ever sat in India:

"As you know," he wrote, "I hold decided views on the subject, and the withholding of the permanent assessment is a serious injury to the extensive petty landed interests in the country, and is no gain whatever to the Government. Nearly the whole population of the country are agriculturists, and live in one way or another upon the cultivation of the land. The effect of a permanent settlement will therefore create a greater feeling of security, and to encourage the outlay of capital and labour on land will be beneficial to the entire population. It will thus be quite a national measure reaching all, and not in the interests of a few, and is calculated to develop the capabilities of the land to the utmost. The prospect of the Government ever being benefited by the reservation of an increase of assessment on the unearned increment is a mere dream. Such increase is sure to be resisted or evaded, occasioning meanwhile great discontent. The Government may confidently look to the development of other sources of revenue from the increased prosperity of the people."

But whether the best remedy lies in granting, as I have proposed, a fixed assessment on land brought under well-irrigation at owners' expense, or in granting a permanent assessment for all lands, or, perhaps, in extending the period of lease from thirty to sixty years (and the last proposal would answer fairly well), one thing is certain, and that is, that under the thirty years' tenure system it is impossible to expect such a development of the landed resources of India as will secure the Government from the vast financial losses caused by famine, or at least reduce these losses to a moderate amount. And we have ample evidence to prove that, where adequate security exists, private enterprise will be sure to step in and carry out most extensive and important irrigation works. This has been particularly shown in the proceedings of the Government of the North-West Provinces and Oudh, where the condition of things in the permanently settled districts has been contrasted with that in the temporarily settled, or thirty year leasehold districts. I have no space to go into the details. They would only weary the general reader, and it is sufficient to say that in the permanently settled districts there has been an immense progress in irrigation carried out by private enterprise; and that, to quote from the proceedings:—"Throughout the whole tract there have been occasional periods of agricultural distress, but it has always been in a mild form, and for a century famines such as have occurred in other parts of India have been unknown." In short, private enterprise, backed by a fair assessment fixed for ever, has driven famine from the tract in question, and this will occur in other parts of India if the Government will only grant tenures sufficiently safe to induce the people to invest their money in wells and permanent improvements. And if further proofs are needed, we have only to turn to Mr. Gribble's valuable memorandum on well irrigation, which is published in the proceedings of the Famine Commission.

In concluding my remarks on famines, I may say that the whole question regarding them is of the greatest practical importance to all employers of labour in India. Our labour market in Mysore was enormously injured by the great famine of 1876-77, when the loss of population amounted to about a million, and when, through the agency of railways, loss of life can be averted in the future, it will only be averted at such a cost as will cripple the resources of the State for years to come, and so lessen its powers for maintaining roads and other works in an efficient state, and developing the resources of the country. The whole of the evils arising from famine then can only be averted by a full development of well irrigation, and this and the development of the landed resources of the country in general can only be effected through the agency of improved tenures. This is a point which all individuals having a stake in India should continuously urge on the attention of the Government.

The reader will remember that when I started in Mysore in 1856, there were only seven European planters in the province. I have lately endeavoured to ascertain the number there are at present, and the Dewan, to whose kindness I have been much indebted for information when writing this book, has supplied me with a specially drawn up return, showing all the information available as regards coffee from the year 1831 up to 1890-91, and by this it seems that there were in 1890-91 662 plantations held by Europeans in Mysore, but there are no means of ascertaining the number of planters. I have referred the return to one of the oldest and most advanced planters, and in his reply he says, "It is impossible to say exactly how many landowners the 662 plantations represent, as several of the plantations in many cases go to make up what we call an estate, but I should not imagine that the number would be more than 300, and in that calculation I have allowed for there being partners in many of the properties." The area held by Europeans was 49,862 acres, and some increase has no doubt since been made to this.

The native plantations amounted to 27,180 in number in 1890-91, with an area of 96,814 acres, but many of these so-called plantations only consist of small patches of coffee. The total area of European and native holdings in 1890-91 was 146,676 acres. There are no means whatever of ascertaining from the returns at my command even approximately the amount of coffee produced. A reasonable calculation, however, based on a general knowledge of the circumstances, makes it probable that the European production of coffee may be put down at about an average of 120,000 cwts. a-year, and the native production at about 172,000 cwts., and if we put the average value of both as low as L3 a cwt. this would make the annual value of the coffee amount to L876,000. I now proceed to close this chapter with some remarks on manufactures in Mysore.

Many years ago I heard the late Mr. Hugh Mason (formerly President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce) speak at a meeting of the Society of Arts on the manufacturing prospects of India, and, after reviewing the general situation, he said that it is difficult to see what other advantages India could require in order to raise itself into the position of a great manufacturing country. It is true, he said, that the operative there cannot do as much as the operative hero, but, he continued, I can remember the time when the operative here could not do nearly as much as he can do now, and there is no reason to doubt but that a similar improvement would take place in the case of the Indian operative. And when this improvement takes place, and India becomes more known and developed, her great manufacturing capabilities will become fully apparent. India has two very great advantages. She has an abundant, docile, and orderly population, and she obtains from the sun an ample supply of that heat which has to be paid largely for here. When, then, the Indian operative attains to an advanced degree of proficiency—and to this he undoubtedly will attain—the greatest labour competition that the world has ever seen will begin—a competition between the white labourer who requires to be expensively fed, warmly clothed, and well shod, and housed, and the black or brown skinned man who can live cheaply, and work naked, and who is as physically comfortable in a mere shelter as his rival is in a well built dwelling. The Indian peasant already, in the case of wheat, undersells the English farmer, and it seems merely a question of time as to when the Indian operative will undersell his Lancashire rival, and when perhaps calico will come to England, as it once did, from Calicut. And no doubt, some such thoughts were passing through Cobden's mind when he once said, "What ugly ruins our mills will make." We are, however, a considerable way from such remains as the reader will see if he consults the interesting paper on "The Manufactures of India," read by Sir Juland Danvers at a meeting of the Society of Arts on the 24th of April last, and by this it appears that the imports of cloths of English manufacture have increased in recent years. Still India is progressing, and there are now a total of 126 cotton mills in all India. Of these one is in Bangalore, and was opened in 1885. The Mysore Government took 250 shares in it, and to enable the Company to extend the buildings, subsequently lent it on easy terms two lakhs of rupees. There is also another company at work in Bangalore which started as a woollen factory, but which has now set up machines for spinning cotton. The efforts made to push forward industries of all kinds in Mysore are highly creditable to the administration, and I find numerous references in the annual addresses made by the Dewan at the meeting of the Representative Assembly to the desire of the Government to foster any kind of industry that is likely to afford increased employment to the people. A long reference is made in the Dewan's address of 1890, to the endeavours made by the Government to open up the iron wealth of the province, and it was then in correspondence with a native gentleman who had proposed to start iron works in the Malvalli Talook of the Mysore district. The Government, it appears, were prepared to grant most liberal concessions as regards the supply of fuel. But I regret that I have no information as to whether these proposed works have or have not been started. For the information of those who might be inclined to embark in this industry I may mention that a copy of the Dewan's annual addresses always appears in the "Mysore and Coorg Directory," which is a most valuable compilation on all points of importance relating to those provinces. These annual addresses are admirably drawn up and are most interesting to read. The attention shown to the many various points treated of is most remarkable. Nothing seems too great and nothing too small for notice by the Dewan, and it is this even attention all along the line that shows the fine administrator. As one instance to the point I may mention that when attending as a member of the Representative Assembly at Mysore in 1891, I happened to meet the Dewan and some of his officers in the veranda outside the great hall where our meetings were held, and his attention was attracted to a coffee peeler—the invention of a native who thought this a good opportunity for introducing his machines to the notice of the public, and had some cherry coffee at hand to show how they worked. The Dewan at once inspected the machine, saw the coffee put through, and himself turned the handle, and was so satisfied that he ordered some of the machines to be bought and sent for exhibition to the head-quarters of the coffee growing Talooks, or counties, and in his address of 1892 he reports that the machines had been found to be much in favour with the planters who had used them. The state of the box is the best evidence of the goodness of the gardener. But it is time now to draw this chapter to a close. I must, however, find room for a few remarks which will show those who might be inclined to settle in India that their interests are sure to be well attended to by the Government.

During my long Indian experience I have had occasion to represent grievances and wants to Government officers, from district officers to high Indian officials, to officials at the India office, and to more than one Secretary of State for India, and am therefore able to testify directly to their admirable courtesy, patience, and consideration. In the ordinary sense of the word, the planters in the various parts of India are not represented, but as a matter of fact their interests are most efficiently represented, for the officers of the Government, whether civilians or soldier-civilians (and when Mysore was under British rule I had practical experience of both), are distinguished by an amount of energy, industry, and ability, to which I believe it is impossible to find a parallel in the world, and combined with these qualities there is everywhere exhibited a conscientious zeal in promoting in every possible way the interests of the countries committed to their charge. And these officers know that they are at once the administrators and rulers of the land, and, as there is no representative system such as we have in England, freely admit that to them the people have a right to appeal in all matters affecting their interests. This right of personal appeal planters most freely exercise, and in this way are sure, sooner or later, and often with very little delay, to obtain the supply of wants or the redress of grievances. And here I may offer in conclusion one useful hint. The time of officials, and especially of high officials, is very valuable, and every effort should be made to avoid putting them to trouble that can be avoided. The subject to be brought forward should be carefully thought out, and put in the form of a memorandum. This in some cases it is advisable to forward by letter when asking for an interview, while in other cases I have thought it more advisable that the memorandum should be taken with one and read to the official, as this gives a good opportunity for discussing the points in regular order. In the latter case, at the close of the interview, the official will probably ask that the memorandum may be left with him for reference, but it is then better to ask to be allowed to send a well-written copy by post, as this gives an opportunity for making clearer any points that may have been discussed at the interview, and which may require further explanation. It is well always to bear in mind that all high officials, and the heads of districts, are representatives of the Crown, and as such are entitled to a due amount of deference and formality when being personally addressed, or addressed by letter. These are points which are sometimes not sufficiently taken into account by inexperienced persons.

I need hardly say that the remarks last made apply equally to native officials either in Mysore or elsewhere.

In conclusion, I may mention that I have always found the native officials to be most polite, considerate, and obliging, and such, I feel sure, is the general experience of those who have been brought in contact with them.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] When this line is finished the planters of Mysore will have an easy and very direct route by rail to the Nilgiri Hills, and this will be of immense advantage to themselves, and especially to their families.

[3] It has imposed this policy on Mysore, and by the terms of the deed of transfer to the Rajah, no alteration in the tenures can be made without the consent of the Supreme Government.



CHAPTER II.

THE SCENERY AND WATERFALLS OF MYSORE.

Mysore is a tract of country in Southern India approximating in area to Scotland, and with a general elevation of from two to three thousand feet above the level of the sea. It is commonly spoken of as the Mysore tableland, but this is rather a misleading description if we adopt the dictionary definition of the word tableland as being "a tract of country at once elevated and level," for, though there are in the interior of the province considerable stretches of rolling plains, the so-called tableland presents to the view a country intersected at intervals, more or less remote, with mountain chains, while scattered here and there in the interior of the plateau are isolated rocky hills, or rather hills of rock, termed droogs (Sanscrit, durga, or difficult of access) which sometimes rise to a total height of 5,000 feet above sea level. The surface of the country, too, is often broken by groups, or clusters of rocks, either low or of moderate elevation, composed of immense boulders, the topmost ones of which are often so finely poised as to seem ready to topple over at the slightest touch. The highest point of the plateau is about 3,500 feet, and is crowned as it were by the fine bold range of the Bababuden mountains, which have an average elevation of about 6,000 feet. There are three mountains in Mysore which exceed this elevation, and the highest of them, Mulainagiri, is 6,317 feet above the level of the sea. The province, which is completely surrounded by British territory, is flanked on the west and east by the Ghauts, or ranges of hills up the passes through which the traveller ascends on to the tableland, and on the south it is, as it were, pointed off by the Nilgiri hills. The greatest breadth of Mysore from north to south is about 230 miles, and its greatest length from east to west is 290 miles. On the western side one part of the province runs to within ten miles of the sea, though the average distance from it is from thirty to fifty miles. The nearest point to the sea on the eastern side is about 120 miles, and the most southerly extremity of the tableland is 250 miles from the most southerly point of India.

As regards climate, cultivation, and the general appearance of the country, Mysore may be divided into two very distinctly marked tracts—the forest and woodland region which stretches from the foot of the Western Ghauts to distances varying from about twenty to as much as forty-five miles, and the rolling and comparatively speaking treeless plains of the central and eastern parts of the province, which are only occasionally broken by tracts which have some of the characteristics of both. In the western tract are numerous plantations of coffee and cardamoms, and the cereal cultivation consists mainly of rice fields irrigated from perennial streams; while in the central and eastern parts of the tableland, which by far exceed in area the woodland tracts of the west, the cultivation is mainly of the millets and other crops which do not depend on irrigation, though these are interspersed at intervals, more or less remote, with rice fields, the water for which is chiefly derived from tanks, or artificial reservoirs. The rainfall, temperature, and quality of the atmosphere in the western tract varies considerably from those of the open country of the interior. The rainfall of the first varies from sixty to one hundred inches, and, on the crests of the Ghauts, is probably often about 200 inches,[4] while in the interior of the province the rainfall is probably about thirty inches on the average. The temperature of the western tract too is naturally much damper and cooler than that of the rest of the tableland, and at my house within six miles of the crests of the Ghauts at an elevation of about 3,200 feet, the shade temperature at the hottest time of the year and of the day rarely exceeds eighty-five, and such a thing as a hot night is unknown, as the woodland tracts are within reach of the westerly sea breezes, while in the interior the climate is much hotter and drier, and the maximum day temperature of the hot weather is about ninety, and, in very hot seasons, about ninety-five. In the woodland tracts the cold weather and the monsoon months have a very pleasant temperature, and then flannel shirts and light tweeds—in short, English summer clothing—are used, and a blanket is always welcome at night. The climate of Mysore is considered to be a healthy one for Europeans of temperate habits, and who take reasonable care of themselves. As we are now hearing so much of cholera in Europe, it may not be uninteresting to mention that, though the province was under British administration from 1831 to 1881, and there have since been a considerable number of European officials in the employ of the now native government of Mysore, only one European official has died of cholera during that period, and that, though there are a considerable number of planters, only one has been reported to have died of the disease, though his, I am told, was a doubtful case.

I have said that there are marked differences between the western tracts and the remainder of the province, but the most marked difference of course between the forest and woodland country of the west, and the country to the east, lies in the scenery of the two tracts, for, though in the latter case there are occasional bits of attractive landscape, and partially wooded hills, there is nothing at all to compare with the grand forest scenery of the Western Ghauts, or the charming park-like woodlands which stretch into the tableland at varying distances from the crests of the frontier mountains. Everyone who has seen the latter has been struck by their extraordinary and diversified beauty, and last year a friend of mine, who had for a considerable time been travelling all round the world, said to me, as he rode up to my house, "After all I have seen I have seen nothing to equal this." But this, I must add, was the very best of our Western Ghaut park scenery which is mostly contained in the talook or county of Manjarabad which stretches for about twenty-five miles along the western frontier of Mysore, a tract of country so beautiful that the laconic Colonel Wellesley (afterwards the great Duke of Wellington), who rarely put a superfluous word into his dispatches, could not refrain from remarking in one of them on the beautiful appearance of the country.[5] There are two things especially remarkable about this tract. The one is that throughout the best of it there is nothing distinctively Indian in the scenery. Bamboos are rare, and in much of the tract entirely absent, and as the palm trees are always concealed in the woods there is nothing to connect the country with the usual feature of Indian woodland scenery. Another point most worthy of notice is that the scenery which appears to one seeing it for the first time to be entirely natural, is in reality very largely the creation of man. And it has been much improved by his action for, as you leave Manjarabad to go northwards the jungle becomes too continuous, and it is the same if you go southwards into the adjacent district of Coorg, and when you compare the last mentioned tracts with Manjarabad you then begin to realize the fact that nature, if left to herself, is apt to become a trifle monotonous. But in Manjarabad man has invaded nature to beautify her and bring her to perfection—cutting down and turning eventually into stretches of grass much of the original forest—leaving blocks of from 50 to 200 acres of wood on the margin of each group of houses, clearing out the jungle in the bottoms for rice cultivation and thus forming what at some seasons appear to be bright green rivers winding through the forest-clad or wooded slopes, and here and there planting on the knolls trees of various wide-spreading kinds. And yet from the absence of fences, and of cultivation on the uplands, the whole scene appears to be one of Nature's creations, and all the more so because no houses nor farm-buildings are visible, as these are hidden amongst the trees on the margins of the forest lands. Then this long tract of beautifully wooded and watered country is fringed on its western border by the varied mountain crests of the Western Ghauts, while on the east it is traversed by the Hemavati river which is fed by the numerous streams, and brawling burns which descend from the frontier hills. But though Manjarabad has combinations of charms unrivalled in their kind, we must not forget that an examination of of them by no means exhausts the scenery of the Ghauts, for, on the north-western border of Mysore are the falls of Gairsoppa. Often had I read descriptions of them which I once thought must have been too highly coloured, but when I visited the falls some years ago I found that the accounts I had read were not only far below the reality, but that the most important parts of the wonderful combinations of the scenes had either never been noted, or been quite inadequately recorded. I do not now profess to give anything approaching an adequate account of them. Nor indeed do I think it would be possible to do so. But what follows will I think at least be of advantage in directing the attention of the traveller to the best way of observing the varied scenes, and noting the wonderful musical combinations, which are to be heard at these marvellously beautiful falls.

The falls of Gairsoppa are on the Sarawati, or Arrowborn[6] river, which, rising in the western woodland region of Northern Mysore, flows north-west for about sixty-two miles, and then, turning abruptly to the west, precipitates its waters over cliffs about 860 feet in height. When the river is at the full in the south-west monsoon an immense body of water rushes over the precipice, and from calculations made by some engineers, and which are recorded in the book at the Travellers' Bungalow, the volume and height of fall at that time, if taken together, would give a force of water about equal to that of Niagara. But, however that may be, a glance at the high water marks, and a knowledge of the immense rainfall on the crests of the Ghauts during the monsoon months, makes it certain that, at that time of year, the amount of water must be very large. At that season, though, the falls are almost invisible, as they are concealed by vast masses of mist and spray, and even were they visible, as the water then stretches from bank to bank, there would only be one vast monotonous fall. But after the heavy monsoon floods are over, the river above the falls-shrinks back as it were into a long deep pool which lies at a distance of several hundred yards from the brink of the precipice, and from this pool the water of the river then escapes by four distinct rapids which have cut their way to-the brink of the precipice, and fall over the cliffs in four distinct falls, each one of widely different character from the others. The falls at this season are only 834 feet high, but when the river rises to the full the fall, as I before mentioned, must be about 860 feet, or approximating in height to the loftiest story of the Eiffel Tower. Across the rapids light bridges of bamboo are thrown, at the end of each monsoon. There are thus two ways of crossing the river—one by the pool above the falls where there is a ferry-boat which can take over horses as well as people—the other by the bridges of the rapids—and it is necessary to cross the river because the only bungalow is on the north, or Bombay side of the river, and the best point for seeing the falls is on the southern side. The only way too of reaching the bottom of the falls is by the southern side.

The only objection to these falls is the difficulty of getting at them, owing to their being quite out of the usual travellers' route, and that is why they have, if I may judge by the travellers' book at the bungalow,[7] been, comparatively speaking, rarely visited. Then there is no railway nearer than about ninety miles, and though the falls are only thirty-five miles from the western coast, steamers do not call at the nearest port to them. Nor is it at all even probable that any line will ever be brought nearer to the falls than about sixty miles. It is, too, rather discouraging to have the prospect of a ninety mile road journey to see the falls, and then return by the same route. But I would suggest that a traveller might make a very enjoyable trip by going from Bombay to Hoobli on the South Maharatta line, and, on the way to Gairsoppa visit the Lushington Falls which are about 400 feet in height, the Lalgali Fall which has a series of picturesque rapids and cascades, with a total fall of from 200 to 300 feet, and the Majod falls where the Bedti-Gangaveli river forms a picturesque waterfall leaping in a series of cascades over cliffs varying in height from 100 to 200 feet in height, and together 800 feet high. I have not visited any of these last named falls. An account of them and other places of interest in the Kanara district is given in the "Bombay Gazetteer" for Kanara,[8] which gives a complete history of this interesting district, and is a book which the traveller should buy, as it is well worthy of a place in any library. I now proceed to give an account of my visit to the Gairsoppa Falls.

On the 12th of January, 1886 (I should not advise the traveller to visit the falls earlier than November 1st nor later than the middle of January, as the water lessens after the latter date), I arrived at the Travellers' Bungalow at the Falls, after having travelled there by the coast route from Bombay, which I found so troublesome that I cannot recommend its adoption. The bungalow, which is about thirty-five miles from the western coast, and on ground 1,800 feet above sea level, is situated in a truly romantic spot (in fact rather too romantic if we take the possibility of an earthquake into consideration), for it is close to the edge of a gorge 900 feet deep, and in full view of the face of the precipice over which the waters of the Arrowborn river precipitate themselves on their way to the western sea. To north, south, east, and west stretch hills and vales for the most part covered with the evergreen forest, and only here and there showing grassy slopes and summits. On the opposite side of the gorge as you peer down into it you can see emerging from the edge of the jungle about half way down from the top of the side of the gorge what looks like a long ladder of stone, but which really consists of the rough steps by which alone the bottom of the falls can be reached.