Die Briten über das Nilgiri und Wynaad

1829-1911

"We were never tired of admiring the endless multitude of trees mingling promiscuously together; so different among themselves, and so singular in structure. [...] those extensive climbers twisting themselves like cork-screws around the tallest trees, and rearing their heads above their tops � those towering bamboos, which reaching the height of seventy feet and upwards, and knitting together their long and flexible branches by innumerable knots and turns, encircle as it were, in one group, the whole vegetation of this wild region. To clear a way through these, neither fire nor axe would be sufficient; the one would soon become extinguished for want of circulation of the air, the other broken by the hardness of the wood. The soil appears incapable of giving room for the germs whch [sic!] it develops. Each tree disputes with others, which press on every side, the earth it wants for its own existence. The strong stifle the weak, while rising generations obliterate the slightest traces of destruction and death. Vegetation never flags, and the soil, far from becoming exhausted, daily acquires new fertility. Numberless animals of every kind � quadrupeds, reptiles, insects, birds, being as diversified and strange as the vegetation of the place itself, retire beneath the canopy of theses ancient jungles, as into a tower proof against the attacks of man. Those, who have never been in any other than woods of small extent, can form no conception of the silence and solitude which pervade the greater forests. The former are full of birds, in whose very sight there is gladness, and in whose chirpings there is no touch of melancholy; and being associated too, with orchards and gardens, images of gladness are awaked by their presence. But no associations like these belong to the Wynaud, � no sweet birds hop from bush to bush, � no joyful songs are in the air, � the rustling of the jungle does not denote the presence of the tuneful lark, but of some wild and ferocious animal with whom man can have no association."

"This part of the district was richly clothed in wood as all other parts through which we had passed. It was nearly sunrise when we caught a boundless view of the Neilgherries, distant about fifteen miles. These blue-tinted mountains were reposing in all the tranquillity of nature, and their rugged acclivities were covered with forest trees, or coppice-wood, to their summits. We passed onward over a very stony road, threading defiles of the most romantic description, and woody glens almost impervious from the rich intertwining of innumerable wild shrubs and creepers, which waved gracefully above the underwood, concealing the very ground from our view � and entering a thick jungle where myriads of fire-flies were sparkling in the sunbeams, speedily arrived at the little village of Goodalore situated amidst forest of trees of the most exhilarating verdure, infested however by elephants, tigers, leopards, bears, bisons, and other wild animals. The traveller is cautioned against passing the night at this station, in consequence of its insularity."

"Numerous herds of elephants traverse the jungles at the base of the Neilgherries; and though an elephant-hunt cannot be attended without great risk of fever, it has nevertheless been witnessed by parties from the hills [...]. As soon as the elephants make their appearance from the Malabar side, intelligence is conveyed to the Darogah (the chief hunter) by the Mulas, who are a diminutive wild race of men living entirely in the jungle, and particularly clever in tracing these animals in their route, which is invariable along the base of the Hills to Mysore. The herd is then surrounded by about three hundred of the Ryots, care being taken to leave the animals an abundant supply of water, without which, it is impossible to prevent their breaking through the lines. About two hundred tank-diggers are then employed in making the Coopum (an enclosure into which the elephants are driven), which consists of a circular ditch of one hundred yards diameter, eight feet wide, and nine deep; the entrance to it is the most beaten track to be found in the thickest part of the jungle. To guide the animals to this, a strong line of hedges is made [...]. When all is completed, [...] the elephants are with little difficulty driven into the trap prepared for them; when two bon-fires being lighted at the entrance, the tank-diggers are enabled to complete the circle around them, unmolested. After the elephants have been left without nourishment for two or three days, a part of the ditch is filled up, and eight or nine tame elephants are taken in, for the purpose of keeping off the most refractory of the wild herd, whilst the Mahouts and Kutmahouts (elephants-keepers) are employed in tying their legs together, and then securing them with a strong cable-like rope to tree of sufficient strength to hold them. [...] After the whole has been bound [...] the wild elephants are dragged out singly, between two tame ones. Then being fastened to some convenient trees, where the jungles are free from fever, they remain there with their attendants who sing to them and conciliate and caress them for a week.

"There the herds are driven to the top of a natural pass, near the head of the Dindigul valley, whence they have a view of the cultivation of the low country, and having been harassed in the jungles by fires and hungers, and being driven by the hunters in their rear, they at length rush through an opening between two rooks, so narrow as to admit but of one elephant at a time. The descent being thence rapid, they rush down and fall into pits prepared for their reception [...]. The pits being covered loosely with straw, several of the elephants fall into them at the first rush, when the rest, making a precipitate retreat, occupy the ground between the entrance and lines of pits. Here they are shot by the sportsmen posted on each side. On one occasion sixty-three [!] elephants were in this manner destroyed [...] in about four hours; and at another time in Coimbatoor, before the art of taking them was so well understood, one sportsman bagged twenty-six elephants in the course of the day."

"From the day we entered the forest we began to collect specimens of the black langur ..., which actually swarmed in the hill-tops wherever we went. We often saw more than a hundred and fifty in a day, and had we desired, might easily have killed fifty every week ... From first to last I shot about forty-five langurs, out of which I got twenty sceletons and eight skins. The tree-tops were so lofty I was obliged to shoot them all with my rifle, and in order to get a sceletons leaving no bones broken, I had to shoot to one monkey through the head and take its body and legs, and shoot another of the same size through the body for the sake of its skull... The black langur is a very handsome monkey."