ther forests. Coorg was constituted a
province not on account of its size, but on account of its isolation. It
lies at the top of the Western Ghats, and is cut off by them from easy
communication with the British districts of South Kanara and Malabar,
which form its western and southern boundaries, while on its other sides
it is surrounded by the native state of Mysore. It is a mountainous
district, presenting throughout a series of wooded hills and deep
valleys; the lowest elevations are 3000 ft. above sea-level. The
loftiest peak, Tadiandamol, has an altitude of 5729 ft.; Pushpagiri,
another peak, is 5626 ft. high. The principal river is the Cauvery,
which rises on the eastern side of the Western Ghats, and with its
tributaries drains the greater part of Coorg. Besides these there are
several large streams that take their rise in Coorg. In the rainy
season, which lasts during the continuance of the southwest monsoon, or
from June to the end of September, the rivers flow with violence and
great rapidity. In July and August the rainfall is excessive, and the
month of November is often showery. The yearly rainfall may exceed 160
in.; in the dense jungle tract it reaches from 120 to 150; in the bamboo
district in the west from 60 to 100 in. The climate, though humid, is on
the whole healthy; it is believed to have been rendered hotter and drier
by the clearing of forest land. Coorg has an average temperature of
about 60 deg. F., the extremes being 52 deg. and 82 deg.. The hottest
season is in April and May. In the direction of Mysore the whole country
is thickly wooded; but to the westward the forests are more open. The
flora of the jungle includes _Michelia_ (Chumpak), _Mesua_ (Ironwood),
_Diospyros_ (Ebony and other species), _Cedrela toona_ (White cedar),
_Chickrassia tubularis_ (Red cedar), _Calophyllum angustifolium_ (Poon
spar), _Canarium strictum_ (Black Dammar tree), _Artocarpus_,
_Dipterocarpus_, _Garcinia_, _Euonymus_, _Cinnamomum iners_,
_Myristica_, _Vaccinium_, _Myrtaceae_, _Melastomaceae_, _Rubus_ (three
species), and a rose. In the undergrowth are found cardamom, areca,
plantain, canes, wild pepper, tree and other ferns, and arums. In the
forest of the less thickly-wooded bamboo country in the west of Coorg
the trees most common are the _Dalbergia latifolia_ (Black wood),
_Pterocarpus marsupium_ (Kino tree), _Terminalia coriacea_ (Mutti),
_Lagerstromia parviflora_ (Benteak), _Conocarpus lalifolius_ (Dindul),