EXTRACTED FROM A PRIVATE JOURNAL, Written during a Tour THROUGH A PART OF MALABAR, AND AMONG THE NEILGHERRIES: INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE TOPOGRAPHY OF OATAKAMUND, WITH OBSERVATIONS ON ITS CLIMATE, INHABITANTS, AND NATURAL HISTORY. BY CAPT. ROBERT MIGNAN, OF THE BOMBAY EUROPEAN REGIMENT; FELLOW OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON, AND MEMBER OF THE ROYAL BOMBAY : PRINTED AT THE AMERICAN MISSION PRESS. M. DCCC. XXXIV. PREFACE. EARLY in 1833, ill-health obliged me to quit Bombay, and in obedience to the orders of my medical advisers, accompanied by my lady and young family, I set out on a visit to Ootakamund, the principal settlement on the Neilgherry Hills. The following pages, condensed from rough notes taken on the spots they attempt to describe, embrace the result of this excursion; and are published with the view of giving those of my brother officers, who may be compelled to resort thither under similar circumstances, some more correct ideas of the place, than I flatter myself, have hitherto appeared. In this attempt, no regular plan has been pursued. The descriptions are submitted to the reader, in the order in which they presented themselves to the writer; and provided that the portrait, on the whole, be a good likeness, it mat |