The analogy between the flora of the Dodabetta ravine and of the loftier parts of the chinchona region was another point which influenced my decision. Within the ravine there are nine species of chinchonaceous plants, namely—
| Hedyotis Lawsoniæ. | Canthium umbellatum. |
| Hedyotis stylosa. | Grumilea elongata. |
| Lasianthus venulosus. | Grumilea congesta. |
| Coffea alpestris. | Psychotria bisulcata. |
| Coffea grumelioides. |
These are mostly ornamental pretty shrubs, from six to eight feet high, with clusters of white or cream-coloured flowers. The other genera of which the wood is composed are as follows:—Vaccinium, Myrsine, Symplocos, Ilex, Michelia, Sapota, Isonandra, and Cinnamon among the trees; Eugenia, Myrtus, Jasminum, Osbeckia, Sonerila, Solanum, Viburnum, and Acanthus among shrubs; Lonicera, Passiflora, Rubia, and pepper-vines among the climbers; with an undergrowth of Lobelia, Begonia, Convolvulus, orchids, and ferns. The Osbeckias and Sonerilas represent the melastomaceous plants, the constant companions of chinchonæ in South America.
It was no small advantage that this excellent site for a chinchona plantation was close to the Government gardens, and that it would thus be under the constant supervision of Mr. McIvor. It receives a supply of moisture during both monsoons, and is, therefore, as good a position as could have been selected on the higher plateau of the Neilgherries, though there are many sholas which will be found equally well adapted for the growth of the hardier chinchonas. These precious plants will, it is to be hoped, before very long, form large plantations on all parts of the hills, and become one of the most important products of the Neilgherries. In the mean while Mr. McIvor, the Government Superintendent, using the Dodabetta site as an experimental plantation, will be enabled to demonstrate the successful results of chinchona culture, and to raise thousands of plants for the supply of private enterprise.
The most extensive operations must, however, necessarily be carried on at much lower elevations, where the C. succirubra, the species richest in febrifugal alkaloids, will flourish best, and where vast unoccupied forests afford space for plantations on a large scale. A northern aspect is the one best adapted for the vigorous growth of trees on the Neilgherry hills, and we, therefore, proceeded to examine the forest-covered slopes overlooking the table-lands of Wynaad and Mysore, for a site for the lower chinchona plantation. We started from Ootacamund early one November morning, and rode across the central plateau of the hills, consisting of rounded grassy undulations, intersected by wooded sholas. In some of the hollows the streams had formed large swamps, where there were extensive deposits of peat. The traveller's bungalow of Pycarrah, the first on the road towards Wynaad, is ten miles from Ootacamund, on the banks of a river of the same name. Several huge boulders of syenite obstruct the stream and cause it to foam noisily round them, and the wet stones were covered with Podostemads, herbaceous branched floating plants, with the habit of liverworts. We saw several otters playing in the water, and peering at us from behind the rocks. Six miles beyond Pycarrah is the bungalow of Neddiwuttum, on the edge of the rapid descent into Wynaad, and the road descends from the upland slopes through a jungle where the ferns first appear, and maiden-hair, ceterach, and other ferns grow by the roadside. Some garden marigolds from England had been planted near the Neddiwuttum bungalow, and they had spread themselves in masses over the adjacent slopes.
The tract of forest land which we came to examine is close to the bungalow, and from the grassy hill above it there is a glorious view of Wynaad, and of the plains of Mysore, stretching away to the horizon. Here the mountains sink abruptly down to the Wynaad table-land, and the Moyaar river thunders down in a long waterfall, divides Wynaad from Mysore, and, flowing through a deep gorge to join the Bowany in Coimbatore, eventually swells the waters of the great river Cauvery. The land available for immediate occupation comprises about 400 acres of uncleared forest on the mountain slopes, at an elevation from a little over 6000 to a little under 5000 feet above the level of the sea, and with a mean temperature about 8° warmer than that of Ootacamund.