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DOM Scripting Web Design with JavaScript and the
Document Object Model 2nd Edition Jeremy Keith
Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Jeremy Keith, Jeffrey Sambells (auth.)
ISBN(s): 9781430233909, 1430233907
Edition: 2
File Details: PDF, 4.21 MB
Year: 2010
Language: english
 DOM Scripting
Web Design with JavaScript and the
Document Object Model
Second Edition

■■■

Jeremy Keith
with Jeffrey Sambells

i
 DOM Scripting: Web Design with JavaScript and the Document Object Model: Second Edition
Copyright © 2010 by Jeremy Keith with Jeffrey Sambells
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the
publisher.
ISBN 978-1-4302-3389-3
ISBN 978-1-4302-3390-9 (eBook)
Printed and bound in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if
they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not
they are subject to proprietary rights.

Publisher and President: Paul Manning

Lead Editor: Ben Renow-Clarke
Technical Reviewer: Rob Drimmie
Editorial Board: Steve Anglin, Mark Beckner, Ewan Buckingham, Gary Cornell, Jonathan
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caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this work.

ii
 For Jessica, my wordridden wife
—Jeremy

For Stephanie, Addison, and Hayden, always by my side

—Jeffrey

iii
 Contents at a Glance

■Contents ................................................................................................................ v

■About the Authors .............................................................................................. xiii

■About the Technical Reviewer............................................................................ xiv

■Acknowledgments............................................................................................... xv

■Introduction ....................................................................................................... xvi
■Chapter 1: A Brief History of JavaScript ............................................................... 1

■Chapter 2: JavaScript Syntax ................................................................................ 7

■Chapter 3: The Document Object Model .............................................................. 31

■Chapter 4: A JavaScript Image Gallery ............................................................... 45

■Chapter 5: Best Practices .................................................................................... 59

■Chapter 6: The Image Gallery Revisited .............................................................. 73

■Chapter 7: Creating Markup on the Fly ............................................................... 95

■Chapter 8: Enhancing Content ........................................................................... 123

■Chapter 9: CSS-DOM .......................................................................................... 149

■Chapter 10: An Animated Slideshow ................................................................. 175

■Chapter 11: HTML5 ............................................................................................ 205

■Chapter 12: Putting It All Together.................................................................... 227

■Appendix: DOM Scripting Libraries ................................................................... 279

■Index ................................................................................................................. 303

iv
Contents

■Contents at a Glance ............................................................................................ iv

■About the Authors .............................................................................................. xiii

■About the Technical Reviewer............................................................................ xiv

■Acknowledgments............................................................................................... xv

■Introduction........................................................................................................ xvi

■Chapter 1: A Brief History of JavaScript ............................................................... 1

The origins of JavaScript ................................................................................................ 1

The Document Object Model ........................................................................................... 2

The browser wars ........................................................................................................... 3

The D word: DHTML ............................................................................................................................... 3

Clash of the browsers ............................................................................................................................ 3

Raising the standard ....................................................................................................... 4

Thinking outside the browser ................................................................................................................ 4

The end of the browser wars ................................................................................................................. 4

A new beginning .................................................................................................................................... 5

What’s next? ................................................................................................................... 5

■Chapter 2: JavaScript Syntax ................................................................................ 7

What you’ll need ............................................................................................................. 7

Syntax ............................................................................................................................. 9

Statements ............................................................................................................................................. 9

Comments ............................................................................................................................................ 10

Variables .............................................................................................................................................. 10

v
■ CONTENTS

Data types ............................................................................................................................................ 12

Arrays ................................................................................................................................................... 14

Objects ................................................................................................................................................. 16

Operations ..................................................................................................................... 17

Arithmetic operators ............................................................................................................................ 17

Conditional statements ................................................................................................. 19

Comparison operators .......................................................................................................................... 20

Logical operators ................................................................................................................................. 21

Looping statements ...................................................................................................... 22

The while loop ...................................................................................................................................... 22

The for loop .......................................................................................................................................... 24

Functions ...................................................................................................................... 24

Objects .......................................................................................................................... 27

Native objects ...................................................................................................................................... 28

Host objects ......................................................................................................................................... 29

What’s next? ................................................................................................................. 29

■Chapter 3: The Document Object Model .............................................................. 31

D is for document.......................................................................................................... 31

Objects of desire ........................................................................................................... 31

Dial M for model............................................................................................................ 32

Nodes ............................................................................................................................ 33

Element nodes ..................................................................................................................................... 34

Text nodes............................................................................................................................................ 34

Attribute nodes..................................................................................................................................... 34

Cascading Style Sheets........................................................................................................................ 35

Getting Elements .................................................................................................................................. 37

Taking stock ......................................................................................................................................... 41

Getting and Setting Attributes ....................................................................................... 41

getAttribute .......................................................................................................................................... 41

vi
 ■ CONTENTS

setAttribute .......................................................................................................................................... 43

What’s next? ................................................................................................................. 44

■Chapter 4: A JavaScript Image Gallery ............................................................... 45

The markup ................................................................................................................... 45

The JavaScript .............................................................................................................. 47

A DOM diversion ................................................................................................................................... 48

Finishing the function .......................................................................................................................... 49

Applying the JavaScript ................................................................................................ 49

Event handlers ..................................................................................................................................... 49

Expanding the function ................................................................................................. 51

Introducing childNodes ........................................................................................................................ 51

Introducing the nodeType property ...................................................................................................... 52

Adding a description in the markup ..................................................................................................... 53

Changing the description with JavaScript ........................................................................................... 54

Introducing the nodeValue property ..................................................................................................... 54

Introducing firstChild and lastChild ...................................................................................................... 55

Using nodeValue to update the description ......................................................................................... 55

What’s next? ................................................................................................................. 58

■Chapter 5: Best Practices .................................................................................... 59

Mistakes of the past ..................................................................................................... 59

Don’t blame the messenger ................................................................................................................. 59

The Flash mob...................................................................................................................................... 60

Question everything ............................................................................................................................. 60

Graceful degradation .................................................................................................... 61

The javascript: pseudo-protocol .......................................................................................................... 62

Inline event handlers ............................................................................................................................ 62

Who cares? .......................................................................................................................................... 63

The lessons of CSS ....................................................................................................... 63

Separation of structure and style ......................................................................................................... 63

vii
 ■ CONTENTS

Progressive enhancement ................................................................................................................... 64

Unobtrusive JavaScript ................................................................................................. 65

Backward compatibility ................................................................................................ 67

Object detection ................................................................................................................................... 67

Browser sniffing ................................................................................................................................... 68

Performance considerations ......................................................................................... 69

Minimizing DOM access and markup................................................................................................... 69

Assembling and placing scripts ........................................................................................................... 70

Minification .......................................................................................................................................... 70

What’s next? ................................................................................................................. 71

■Chapter 6: The Image Gallery Revisited .............................................................. 73

A quick recap ................................................................................................................ 73

Does it degrade gracefully? .......................................................................................... 74

Is the JavaScript unobtrusive? ..................................................................................... 75

Adding the event handler ..................................................................................................................... 75

Share the load ...................................................................................................................................... 80

Assuming too much ...................................................................................................... 82

Fine-tuning.................................................................................................................... 84

Keyboard access ........................................................................................................... 86

Beware of onkeypress ......................................................................................................................... 87

Sharing hooks with CSS................................................................................................ 88

DOM Core and HTML-DOM ............................................................................................ 91

What’s next? ................................................................................................................. 92

■Chapter 7: Creating Markup on the Fly ............................................................... 95

Some old-school methods ............................................................................................ 95

document.write .................................................................................................................................... 95

innerHTML ............................................................................................................................................ 97

DOM methods ............................................................................................................. 100

createElement .................................................................................................................................... 101

viii
 ■ CONTENTS

appendChild ....................................................................................................................................... 102

createTextNode .................................................................................................................................. 103

A more complex combination ............................................................................................................ 105

Revisiting the image gallery ....................................................................................... 107

Inserting a new element before an existing one ................................................................................ 109

Inserting a new element after an existing one................................................................................... 110

The finished image gallery ................................................................................................................. 112

Ajax ............................................................................................................................. 116

The XMLHttpRequest object ............................................................................................................... 116

Progressive enhancement with Ajax .................................................................................................. 121

Hijax ................................................................................................................................................... 121

What’s next? ............................................................................................................... 122

■Chapter 8: Enhancing Content ........................................................................... 123

What not to do............................................................................................................. 123

Making the invisible visible......................................................................................... 124

The content ................................................................................................................. 124

The markup: HTML, XHTML, or HTML5 .............................................................................................. 125

The CSS .............................................................................................................................................. 127

The JavaScript ................................................................................................................................... 128

Displaying abbreviations ............................................................................................. 128

Writing the displayAbbreviations function ......................................................................................... 129

Creating the markup .......................................................................................................................... 131

A browser bomb ................................................................................................................................. 136

Displaying citations ..................................................................................................... 139

Writing the displayCitations function ................................................................................................. 140

Displaying access keys ............................................................................................... 145

Retrieving and attaching information ......................................................................... 148

What’s next? ............................................................................................................... 148

ix
■ CONTENTS

■Chapter 9: CSS-DOM.......................................................................................... 149

Three sheets to the Web ............................................................................................. 149

Structure ............................................................................................................................................ 149

Presentation ....................................................................................................................................... 150

Behavior ............................................................................................................................................. 150

Separation .......................................................................................................................................... 151

The style property ....................................................................................................... 152

Getting styles ..................................................................................................................................... 153

Setting styles ..................................................................................................................................... 158

Knowing when to use DOM styling ............................................................................. 160

Styling elements in the node tree ...................................................................................................... 160

Repetitive styling ............................................................................................................................... 164

Responding to events......................................................................................................................... 168

className .................................................................................................................. 170

Abstracting a function ........................................................................................................................ 173

What’s next? ............................................................................................................... 174

■Chapter 10: An Animated Slideshow ................................................................. 175

Animation basics......................................................................................................... 175

Position .............................................................................................................................................. 175

Time ................................................................................................................................................... 178

Incremental movement ...................................................................................................................... 178

Abstraction ......................................................................................................................................... 181

Practical animation ..................................................................................................... 187

The situation ...................................................................................................................................... 188

The solution ....................................................................................................................................... 189

CSS..................................................................................................................................................... 190

JavaScript .......................................................................................................................................... 192

A question of scope............................................................................................................................ 195

Refining the animation ....................................................................................................................... 197

Adding a safety check ........................................................................................................................ 200

x
 ■ CONTENTS

Generating markup ............................................................................................................................ 201

What’s next? ............................................................................................................... 204

■Chapter 11: HTML5 ............................................................................................ 205

What is HTML5? .......................................................................................................... 205

A little help from a friend ............................................................................................ 206

A few examples .......................................................................................................... 208

Canvas ............................................................................................................................................... 208

Audio/Video ........................................................................................................................................ 213

Forms ................................................................................................................................................. 221

Is there anything else?................................................................................................ 225

What's Next ................................................................................................................. 226

■Chapter 12: Putting It All Together.................................................................... 227

The brief ...................................................................................................................... 227

Raw materials .................................................................................................................................... 227

Site structure ..................................................................................................................................... 227

Page structure.................................................................................................................................... 229

Design ......................................................................................................................... 229

CSS ............................................................................................................................. 230

Color ................................................................................................................................................... 232

Layout ................................................................................................................................................ 234

Typography ........................................................................................................................................ 236

Markup ........................................................................................................................ 238

JavaScript ................................................................................................................... 238

Page highlighting ............................................................................................................................... 240

JavaScript slideshow ......................................................................................................................... 243

Internal navigation ............................................................................................................................. 248

JavaScript image gallery ................................................................................................................... 252

Table enhancements .......................................................................................................................... 256

Form enhancements .......................................................................................................................... 261

xi
 ■ CONTENTS

Minification ........................................................................................................................................ 276

What’s next? ............................................................................................................... 277

■Appendix: DOM Scripting Libraries ................................................................... 279

Choosing a library ....................................................................................................... 280

A few libraries .................................................................................................................................... 281

Content delivery networks ................................................................................................................. 282

Syntax ......................................................................................................................... 283

Selecting elements ..................................................................................................... 284

CSS selectors ..................................................................................................................................... 284

Library-specific selectors .................................................................................................................. 286

Filtering with a callback ..................................................................................................................... 288

Manipulating the DOM document ............................................................................... 289

Creating content................................................................................................................................. 289

Manipulating content ......................................................................................................................... 291

Handling events .......................................................................................................... 291

Load events ........................................................................................................................................ 291

Other events ....................................................................................................................................... 292

Ajax ............................................................................................................................. 293

Ajax with Prototype ............................................................................................................................ 293

Ajax with jQuery ................................................................................................................................. 296

Animation and effects ................................................................................................. 298

CSS property-based animations ........................................................................................................ 299

Packaged animations ......................................................................................................................... 300

Remember accessibility ..................................................................................................................... 301

Summary..................................................................................................................... 301
■Index ................................................................................................................. 303

xii
About the Authors

■ Jeremy Keith is a web developer living and working in Brighton, England. Working with the web
consultancy firm Clearleft (www.clearleft.com), Jeremy enjoys building accessible, elegant websites
using the troika of web standards: XHTML, CSS, and the DOM. His online home is http://adactio.com.
Jeremy is also a member of the Web Standards Project (www.webstandards.org), where he serves as joint
leader of the DOM Scripting Task Force. When he is not building websites, Jeremy plays bouzouki in the
alt.country band Salter Cane (www.saltercane.com). He is also the creator and curator of one of the Web’s
largest online communities dedicated to Irish traditional music, The Session (www.thesession.org).

■ Jeffrey Sambells is a Canadian designer of pristine pixel layouts and a developer of squeaky clean
code. Back in the good-old days of the Internet, he started a little company called We-Create. Today, he
is still there as Director of Research and Development / Mobile. The title “Director of R&D” may sound
flashy, but really, that just means he is in charge of learning and cramming as much goodness into
products as possible—ensuring they’re all just awesome. He is currently having fun exploring mobile
design and development techniques. Jeffrey loves to learn. He has as much enthusiasm for digging in the
dirt or climbing a cliff as he does for precisely aligning pixels or forcing that page to load just a little
faster. What really pushes him forward is taking the bits of knowledge he has collected and piecing them
together into something new and unique—something other people can be excited about, too. Along the
way, Jeffrey has managed to graduate university, start a few businesses, write some books, and raise a
wonderful family.

xiii
■ CONTENTS

About the Technical Reviewer

■ Rob Drimmie is lucky. He has an amazing wife, two awesome kids, and a brand-new keyboard. Rob's
creative urges tend to manifest in the form of web applications, and he prefers they be fueled by pho and
hamburgers (the creative urges, that is).

xiv
Acknowledgments

This book owes its existence to my friends and colleagues, Andy Budd (http://andybudd.com) and
Richard Rutter (http://clagnut.com). Andy runs a (free) training event in our hometown of Brighton
called Skillswap (http://www.skillswap.org). Way back in July 2004, Richard and I gave a joint
presentation on JavaScript and the Document Object Model. Afterward, we adjourned to the cozy
confines of a nearby pub, where Andy put the idea in my head of expanding the talk into the first edition
of this book.
I would never have learned to write a single line of JavaScript if it weren’t for two things. The first is the
view source option built in to almost every web browser. Thank you, view source. The second is the
existence of JavaScript giants who have been creating amazing code and explaining important ideas over
the years. Scott Andrew, Aaron Boodman, Steve Champeon, Peter-Paul Koch, Stuart Langridge, and
Simon Willison are just some of the names that spring to mind. Thank you all for sharing.
Thanks to Molly Holzschlag for sharing her experience and advice with me, and for giving me feedback
on early drafts. Thanks to Derek Featherstone for many a pleasurable JavaScriptladen chat; I like the way
your mind works.
Extra-special thanks to Aaron Gustafson who provided invaluable feedback and inspiration during the
writing of this book.
While I was writing the first edition of this book, I had the pleasure of speaking at two wonderful events:
South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and @media in London. Thanks to Hugh Forrest and Patrick
Griffiths, respectively, for orchestrating these festivals of geekery that allowed me to meet and befriend
the nicest, friendliest bunch of people I could ever hope to call my peers.
Finally, I’d like to thank my wife, Jessica Spengler, not only for her constant support, but also for her
professional help in proofreading my first drafts. Go raibh míle maith agat, a stór mo chroí.

Jeremy Keith

xv
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
species which require a warmer climate would be found in the forest
slopes which overlook the plains. A closer inspection confirmed me
in this opinion.
 CHAPTER XXII.
NEILGHERRY HILLS.

Extent—Formation—Soil—Climate—Flora—Hill tribes—Todars—Antiquities—
Badagas—Koters—Kurumbers—Irulas—English stations—Kotergherry—
Ootacamund—Coonoor—Jakatalla—Government gardens at Ootacamund
and Kalhutty—Mr. McIvor—Coffee cultivation—Rules for sale of waste lands
—Forest conservancy.

The Neilgherry[399] hills, between latitude 11° 10' and 11° 32' N.,
and longitude 76° 59' and 77° 31' E., form the most elevated
mountain mass in India, south of the Himalayas; the highest peak,
that of Dodabetta, being 8610 feet above the level of the sea. They
are isolated on three sides, and rise up abruptly from the plains of
Coimbatore on the south, and from the table-lands of Wynaad and
Mysore on the north and east, to a height of 6000 feet above the
former, and 2000 to 3000 above the latter; from which they are
divided by the broad ravine of the river Moyaar. On the west they
are united with the Koondah range, which is a continuation of the
western ghauts. The area of the Neilgherries contains 268,494 acres,
of which 24,000 are under cultivation.
The formation consists of syenitic granite, with veins of basaltic rock,
hornblende, and quartz, while, in some parts, half-decomposed
laterite underlies the soil. The plateau is not a flat table-land, but a
succession of undulating hills and intervening grassy valleys, with
ravines thickly wooded, numerous streams, and occasional rocky
ridges running up into fine mountain-peaks. The streams all go to
swell the great river Cauvery, by its tributaries the Moyaar and
Bowany; the Moyaar descending from the hills by a fine waterfall at
Neddiwuttum, on the northern slope; and the Bowany flowing down
between the Koondahs and Neilgherries to the south. The soil of the
plateau is very rich, being formed by the decomposition of basaltic
and hornblende rocks, mixed with the clayey products of the granite,
and much decomposed vegetable matter. The latter consists of the
grass killed down to the roots by the frost, washed in by the
succeeding rains, and mixed with the subsoil, increasing its richness
and depth season after season. The richest land is on the lower
slopes, where there are accumulations of soil washed from the hills
above:[400] and there are extensive deposits of peat in the valleys,
which afford supplies of fuel. The chief defect in the soil is the
absence of lime.
The temperature and amount of humidity vary according to the
locality. At Ootacamund, 7300 feet above the sea, the means of the
thermometer range from 42° to 68°, while in the two other lower
and warmer stations of Coonoor and Kotergherry, about 6000 feet
above the sea, the range is from 52° to 71°. The annual rainfall at
Ootacamund is sixty inches, at Coonoor fifty-five inches, and at
Kotergherry fifty inches. During the south-west monsoon, from May
to September, the rain comes down in torrents at Sispara, and in the
western parts of the Neilgherries, but their force is somewhat
exhausted before reaching Ootacamund, in the centre of the
plateau. At that station the rainfall, during the south-west monsoon,
is about thirty-four inches; and the range of Dodabetta, which rises
up like a wall, immediately to the eastward of Ootacamund, almost
entirely screens the eastern part of the hills from the rains of the
south-west monsoon, and there the rainfall is only twelve inches
from May to September. During the portion of the year from October
to April the western parts of the hills are comparatively dry, the
prevalent winds are from the north-east, and the rains which they
bring with them from the Madras coast do not extend farther west
than the neighbourhood of Ootacamund. Kotergherry, and the
eastern parts of the hills, receive the full benefit of the rains from
the north-east monsoon, but they are not heavy, and the rainfall at
Kotergherry, in that season, is thirty-eight inches. Ootacamund also
gets some of the rain of the north-east monsoon (thirty-six inches),
so that, in that central part of the plateau, there is a belt which
receives a moderate supply of rain throughout the year. In January
and December there are frosts in the night, and the extreme
radiation which goes on in the valleys causes great cold at sunrise;
but these frosts are confined to the valleys in the upper plateau, and
they never visit the higher slopes, or the well-wooded "sholas."
The climates of the Neilgherry hills are the most delightful in the
world; and it may be said of this salubrious region, with its equable
seasons, what the Persian poet said of Kung, "the warmth is not
heat, and the coolness is not cold."[401] On the open plateau, in the
wooded sholas, and in the thick forests of the lower slopes, there is
a great variety of beautiful flowering trees and shrubs; and the
vegetation of the hills is both varied and luxuriant. First, in the
brilliant splendour of its flowers, must be mentioned the tree
rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum), which is very common in
all parts of the hills, either forming small thickets or dotted about on
the grassy slopes. It grows to a height of twenty feet, with a gnarled
stunted trunk, and masses of deep crimson flowers. In the "sholas"
are the Michelia nilagiraca, a large tree, with yellowish-white fragrant
flowers of great size; the Symplocos pulchra, with hairy leaves and
snow-white flowers; the Ilex Wightiana, a large umbrageous tree,
with small white flowers and red berries; the pretty pink-flowered
Rhodo-myrtus tomentosa, the berries of which are called "hill
gooseberries;" the Jasminum revolutum, a shrub with sweet yellow
flowers; the Sapota elingoides, a fine forest-tree, with rough cracked
bark, and an edible fruit used in curries; Crotalariæ; Bignoniæ;
peppers, cinnamon, a number of chinchonaceous shrubs, and many
others.
In the open grassy slopes and near the edges of the wooded ravines
are several Vaccinia, especially the Vaccinium Leschenaultii, a shrub
with pretty rose-coloured flowers; the beautiful Osbeckia
Gardneriana, with a profusion of large purple flowers; the handsome
Viburnum Wightianum; a number of balsams (Impatiens of several
species); the Gaultheria Leschenaultii in great quantities, a pretty
little shrub with white flowers and blue berries; the Berberis
Mahonia, with its glossy prickly leaves and long slender racemes of
yellow flowers; and the bright little pink Indigofera pulchella; while
the climbing passion-flower (Passiflora Leschenaultii) hangs in
festoons over the trees, especially in the eastern parts of the hills.
Among the more inconspicuous plants are the Gallium requienianum;
the Rubia cordifolia;[402] the thorny Solanum ferox, with stem and
leaves covered with strong straight prickles; the Girardinia
Leschenaultii,[403] or Neilgherry nettle, a most virulent stinger; the
tall Lobelia excelsa; a Justitia, with a blue flower, which entirely
covers some of the hills; some pretty Sonerilas; several beautiful
Ipomœas and lilies; elsias; and the Hypericum Hookerianum,
growing plentifully in the meadows, with large orange flowers;
besides ferns, lycopods, and numberless small wild flowers in the
grass and underwood.
Enjoying a delightful climate, well supplied with water, and with its
gentle undulations of hill and dale in some places clothed with rich
pasture, in others presenting woods of fine timber and beautiful
flowering shrubs, the Neilgherry hills are eminently fitted for the
abode of a thriving and civilized people. Yet for many centuries it
would appear that their sole inhabitants were a strange race of
cowherds, a people differing in all respects from their neighbours in
the plains, and indeed from all the other natives of Hindostan.
These are the Todars, a race numbering less than a thousand souls,
who now claim to be the original "Lords of the hills." In times so
remote that no record of them remains there are still indications that
the Indian peninsula was peopled by races of Scythic origin: and,
when the Aryan warriors came forth with their Vedic hymns and
grand old civilization from the fastnesses of Sind, they swept
irresistibly over Hindostan, and formed as it were an upper stratum
of the population. The Scythic element either mixed with, or became
subservient to the Aryan in the plains, as the Sudra caste, while in
the hill and forest fastnesses a few tribes remained isolated and
independent. Such, possibly, may have been the origin of the Todars
on the Neilgherries. The Brahmins, characteristically dovetailing
every tradition and every race into one or other of their historical
myths, declare that the Todars came from the north in the army of
Rama, when he marched against the wicked Ravana; and that,
deserting their chief, they fled to these hills. They themselves have
no tradition of their origin, but believe that they were created on the
hills.
They are certainly a very remarkable and interesting people, tall,
well-proportioned, and athletic, and utterly unlike all other natives of
India. They have Jewish features, with aquiline noses, hazel eyes,
thick lips, bushy black beards, and immensely thick clusters of glossy
hair cut so as to stand in dense masses round the sides of the head,
a very necessary protection from the sun, as they never wear any
other head-covering. The old men are very handsome, with long
white beards and upright gait, looking like the patriarchs of the Old
Testament, with their strongly marked Jewish features: but the
expressions of the younger men are less agreeable to look upon.
The women are very careful of their hair, which hangs down in long
glossy ringlets; and both sexes wear nothing but a long piece of
coarse cotton cloth, with two broad red stripes round the edges,
worn by the men like a Roman toga, which sets off their well-shaped
limbs to advantage, and exposes one leg entirely, up to the hip; and
by the women so as to form a short petticoat and mantle. They
never wash either their persons or their clothes from the day of their
birth to the day of their death. They live in small encampments
called munds, which are scattered over the hills, and consist of five
or six huts, and a larger one used as a dairy. The families are in the
habit of migrating from one mund to another, at certain seasons of
the year; so that we often came upon a mund apparently
abandoned. A Todar's hut is exactly like the tilt of a waggon, very
neatly roofed, with the ends boarded in, and a single low entrance.
They are generally surrounded by a stone wall, and the dairy, a
larger and more important building, is always a little apart. The only
occupation of this singular people is to tend their large herds of fine
buffaloes; they live on milk, and on the grain which they collect as a
due or goodoo from the other hill tribes, and pass the greater part of
their time in idleness; lolling about and gossiping in their munds, or
strolling over the hills. We passed through one of these munds,
about a quarter of a mile from our hotel, almost daily, but I never
remember having seen a Todar engaged in any occupation whatever.
The women become the wives of all the brothers into whose families
they marry, the children being apportioned to husbands according to
seniority. This pernicious custom is also common among the Coorg,
and the Tiars of Malabar. The Todars, formerly, only allowed one
female child to live in each family, the rest being strangled; but the
authorities have lately interfered to put a stop to this custom. When
a Todar bride is given away, she is brought to the dwelling of her
husbands, who each put their feet upon her head; she is then sent
to fetch water for cooking, and the ceremony is considered to be
complete.
The German missionaries, who have had a good deal of intercourse
with these people, say that they worship the "sacred buffalo bell," as
a representation of Hiridea, or the chief God, before which they pour
libations of milk; and when there is a dispute about wives or
buffaloes it is decided by the priest, who becomes possessed by the
Bell God, rushes frantically about, and pronounces in favour of the
richest. Formerly there were seven holy munds, each inhabited by a
recluse called palaul (milkman), attended upon by a kavilaul
(herdsman); but three of these are now deserted, and the fourth is
rarely frequented. The rest have a herd of holy buffaloes attached to
them for the use of the sanctified occupants, and no women may
approach them. The only religious festival of any kind celebrated by
the Todars, and that scarcely deserves the name, takes place on the
occasion of a funeral, when there is much dancing and music. The
body is burnt, and buffaloes are slaughtered to go with the spirit,
and supply it with milk. This is called the green funeral. A year
afterwards there is another ceremony called the dry funeral, when
forty or fifty buffaloes were hunted down, and beaten to death with
clubs; but the Government has recently prohibited the immolation of
more than two beasts for a rich, and one for a poor Todar. The
burial-places are like gigantic extinguishers, twelve feet high, and
thatched with grass. The bodies are burnt, and the ashes collected
and put into chatties, which are deposited in the extinguisher. The
Todars have no other ceremonies, care for nothing but their
buffaloes, and leave prayers to the palaul in his lonely retreat, or to
the palikarpal or dairyman of each mund, who covers his nose with
his thumb when he enters the sacred dairy, and says "May all be
well!"[404]
The Todar language is a very rude dialect of the old Canarese, and
similar to that of the Badagas, another hill tribe. It is very poor in
words conveying abstract ideas, as they have few notions beyond
their buffaloes; their verbs have generally but one tense, and they
express the future and past by means of adverbs of time.[405]
There are many ancient cairns and tumuli on the peaks of the
Neilgherries, and it has been objected that they cannot be assigned
to the ancestors of the Todars, because agricultural implements have
been found in them, and these people never cultivate the ground.
But it must be remembered that the Todars now extort goodoo or
tribute of grain from the other hill tribes, and that it is their only
food. It must be inferred, therefore, that, before they discovered this
easy mode of procuring food, and previous to the arrival of these
weaker agricultural tribes on the hills, the Todars must have been
their own cultivators. The hill people attribute all ancient ruins, of
the origin of which they know nothing, to the Pandus, the famous
heroes of Hindu tradition; and all that can be said of these
Neilgherry cairns is that they are probably the work of an unknown
extinct race, who practised Druidical rites.[406]
We visited several of these remains of an ancient people. On the
summit of the peak of Kalhutty, on the left hand of the road leading
down the Seegoor ghaut to the Mysore plains, whence there is a
grand view of mountain scenery, forest-clad slopes, and a wide
expanse of country stretching away to the horizon, we found several
old cairns. They were of great size, built of immense stones, and
hollow in the centre. On another peak, called Ibex Hill, one side of
which is a scarped cliff many hundreds of feet in height, overhanging
the Seegoor ghaut, we also found two huge cairns, forming a circle
about eight feet in diameter. There are many others in different
parts of the hills, generally on the highest peaks, and iron spear-
heads, bells, sepulchral urns with figures of coiled snakes, tigers,
elephants, dogs, and birds on them, sickles and gold rings have
been found buried under the piles of stones.
The Todars, as has been said, are the "lords of the hills," and not
only all the other hill tribes pay them tribute, but the English
Government also pays rent to them for the land on which the
stations are situated.[407] But the agricultural tribe of Burghers or
Badagas, who came to the hills several centuries after the Todars,
and are subject to them, are by far the most numerous, numbering
15,000 souls, and occupying 300 villages. They are divided into
eighteen classes or castes, the members of one of which, called the
Wodearu Badagas, wear the Brahminical string, are proud and lazy,
and inhabit five villages apart from the rest. The villages of the
Badagas are scattered all over the plateau of the hills, and their land
occupies two-thirds of its area. They are much darker, and not nearly
such fine men as the Todars, wear cotton-cloth turbans and clothing
much like other natives of India, and are very superstitious and
timid; but they are industrious, though not so much so as the
labourers who come up from the plains, and kind and affectionate to
their women and children. The Badagas, though they possess herds
of buffaloes, are chiefly employed in cultivation. Their crops consist
of raggee (Eleusine corocana), the most prolific of cultivated
grasses,[408] which is made into dark brown cakes and porridge;
samee or Italian millet, barley, an amaranth called keeray, some
pulses, mustard, onions, and potatoes. We often passed through the
Badaga villages. The houses are built in a single row, with one
thatched roof extending over so as to form a verandah, supported
on poles. In front there is a hard mud floor, where the piles of grain
are heaped up; and there is generally a Swami-house or temple,
with a verandah in front supported by numerous poles, the walls and
poles being painted in red and white stripes, the Hindu holy colour.
Round the villages there are cultivated patches of raggee and
samee, which they were reaping in December. In the centre of the
fields there is a small threshing-floor, where we often saw the
Badagas sifting the grain from the chaff by shaking it through sieves,
and letting the wind blow the chaff away. A Todar was generally
squatting near, like an old vulture, waiting for his goodoo. The
Badagas belong to the Siva sect, their principal deity being
Rungaswamy, whose temple is on the summit of the easternmost
peak of the Neilgherries; but they also worship 338 other idols or
Swamis, such as trees, streams, stone pillars, and even old knives.
Another hill tribe is that of the Koters, who occupy seven large
villages called Kotergherry (cowkiller's hill). They are of very low
caste, and work as carpenters, smiths, rope-makers, and potters,
besides cultivating the ground. The Koters also dress and prepare
buffalo-hides, and they are a squalid dirty race, living on the carrion
they pick up on the road-sides. They number about five hundred
souls, and are the artizans of the hills, repairing the ploughs, hoes,
and bill-hooks for the Badagas.
The Kurumbers, another tribe, live on the slopes of the hills, in the
most feverish places. They are a short miserable-looking race, and
those called Mooloo or jungle Kurumbers are regular wild men of the
woods, in no respect raised above the beasts of the forest. The
others act as musicians and sorcerers to the Todars and Badagas.
Lastly, the Irulas live low down the slopes of the hills, perform the
office of priests in the Badagas' temple on the Rungaswamy peak,
and occasionally act plays from the life of Krishna at Badaga
festivals.
These five tribes of Todars, Badagas, Koters, Kurumbers, and Irulas,
appear for centuries to have had the exclusive enjoyment of the
Neilgherry hills; though Tippoo Sultan of Mysore erected a fort at
Kalhutty, half-way up the Seegoor ghaut, and another on the
Hoolicul-droog, overhanging the Coonoor ghaut, which leads up
from the Coimbatore plains. He is said to have used these
strongholds for the detention of prisoners, and to enable his officers
to extort tribute from the hill tribes. The Neilgherry hills were first
discovered by two English civilians who made their way up to the
plateau in chasing some Moplah smugglers.[409]
In 1820 Mr. John Sullivan, then Collector of Coimbatore, built the
first house in Ootacamund, on the site of a Todar mund of the same
name.[410] It is now used as the building for the Lawrence Asylum.
The first sanatarium on the hills, however, was at Dimhutty, on the
eastern side, and at the adjoining station of Kotergherry, but the
former is now abandoned. The delightful climate soon attracted
crowds of visitors from the burning plains; many houses gradually
rose up on the grassy slopes round the lake which was formed at
Ootacamund by bunding up one end of the valley, and the place
rapidly became an important hill-station. A small native town and
bazaar sprang up on the banks of the lake, a handsome church was
erected, a club-house, and, most conspicuous of all, an immense
Parsee shop kept by Framjee Nusserwanjee of Bombay. The roads
are excellent, and planted with tall graceful Acacia and gum-trees
from Australia, and many of the houses are surrounded by beautiful
gardens and shrubberies. The most charming, perhaps, is that of the
late Bishop Dealtry, called Bishops-down, whence there is a glorious
view of the station on one side, and of the distant Koondah hills,
overtopped by the sharp peak of Makoorty, on the other. Advantage
has here been taken of a wooded shola to make pleasant shady
walks, and cut vistas through the trees.
The warmer station of Coonoor is about nine miles from
Ootacamund, at the head of the ghaut which leads down to the
plains of Coimbatore. Here the scenery is far more beautiful than at
the central station, as the wooded sides of the ghaut run up into a
fine peak called the Hoolicul-droog, and the view extends far away
over the plains. The houses are perched on the rounded tops of a
range of hills, and there is a church with a fine tower, which is a
great addition to the view of Coonoor from the surrounding
eminences. A mile from Coonoor, in the direction of Ootacamund, is
the military station of Jakatalla, the finest barracks I ever saw in any
part of the world. It is well sheltered by high hills from the cold
north winds to which Ootacamund is exposed, as well as from the
south-west monsoon, and is in every respect admirably adapted as a
sanatarium for soldiers and their families. It has been maintained
that the children of Europeans cannot be reared even on the hills of
India, though upon what grounds this extraordinary assertion is
based I have not yet learnt. The strongest arguments against this
idea are the fresh rosy cheeks and rude health of the boys and girls
in the Lawrence asylum, and of the boys and young men at Mr.
Pope's[411] and Mr. Nash's schools in Ootacamund, who present a
striking contrast to the children on the plains. The bracing climate of
the upper plateau of these hills appears to me to be perfectly well
adapted for European colonists: it has all the advantages with none
of the disadvantages of England, and there are no influences which
can be detrimental to English constitutions. At the time of our visit a
battalion of the 60th Rifles, and a number of convalescent soldiers
from other regiments, were stationed at Jakatalla. The quarters for
the men are built round a large quadrangle, with an upper story, and
airy corridors for exercise in wet weather. Beyond are the married
quarters for ninety couples, each with two comfortable rooms and a
little garden; and there are also a hospital, library, schoolrooms,
substantially-built skittle-alley with brick arches, fives-court, and
swimming-bath. The officers are quartered in bungalows on the
surrounding hill-slopes, or at Coonoor. It would be well if the whole
of the European troops in the Madras Presidency were permanently
quartered on the Neilgherry and other hills as soon as the railroads
are completed. Many of the married men might be permitted to
cultivate and settle on land of their own, with their families, subject
to the condition of being liable to be called on to serve if required,
and a sort of military colony might thus be formed. There is
excellent pasture for flocks of sheep, wheat may be grown in any
quantity, and there is not the slightest danger to Europeans in
undertaking field labour.
The English settler on the Neilgherries will find English fruits,
flowers, vegetables, and grasses, the introduction of which is mainly
due to the exertions of Mr. William G. McIvor, the Superintendent of
the Government gardens at Ootacamund, and now also
Superintendent of Chinchona plantations in Southern India. This
gentleman has been in charge of the gardens at Ootacamund since
1848, and unites zeal, intelligence, and skill to the talent and
experience of an excellent practical gardener. Under his auspices the
steep slopes of one of the spurs, which run off from the peak of
Dodabetta, and overlook the cantonment of Ootacamund, have been
converted into a tastefully laid-out garden, in a succession of
terraces. Hampered at first by the interference of a useless
committee, and with no assistance beyond that of an East Indian
foreman and labourers from the Mysore plains, he has succeeded in
changing the wild mountain-sides into a very beautiful public garden.
Every point of view is taken advantage of with admirable taste, and
numerous trees and flowering shrubs have been introduced from
England, Australia, and other countries, while the native flora of the
hills is fully represented. There are English roses and geraniums,
ponds bordered by white arums, shady walks over-arched by trellis-
work, tasteful vases filled with showy flowers, thickets of
rhododendrons, hedges of heliotrope and fuchsia, fine clumps of tall
spreading trees, and, from the upper terraces, between the leafy
branches, there are glorious views of the Ootacamund valley, and of
the finely broken range of the distant Koondah hills.
Mr. McIvor also has a small branch-garden at Kalhutty, about half-
way down the Seegoor ghaut, leading to the Mysore plains, for
raising fruits which require a warmer climate. This garden is self-
supporting. A magnificent waterfall descends into a rocky basin close
beside it, and the garden contains oranges of many kinds,
shaddocks, lemons, limes, citrons, nutmegs, loquats, and plantains.
On this spot the delicious chirimoyas, the seeds of which we brought
from Peru, will hereafter ripen, and enable the people of India to
taste the "masterpiece of nature."
European enterprise on the Neilgherries has hitherto been chiefly
directed towards the cultivation of coffee, and there are several fine
estates near Coonoor. On the 15th of November we set out from
Ootacamund to visit them, and rode down the valley of Kaitee,
where the house stands which once belonged to Lord Elphinstone,
certainly not in a well-selected spot. It was originally chosen for a
Government farm, which was given up, and the house was then
occupied for a short time by the Governor of Pondicherry. Lord
Elphinstone, when Governor of Madras, took a fancy to the place,
erected a very substantial house, finished it handsomely, and
frequently resided there. In 1845 the property was bought by Mr.
Casamajor of the Civil Service, who established a school there for
Badaga children, on the principle of paying them for coming, at the
rate of 1 anna a day. On his death he left it to the Basle Evangelical
Missionaries, by whom it is now occupied. They have schools, and
labour amongst the Badagas, but as yet with scarcely any success.
The stream which drains the Kaitee valley forms a very beautiful
waterfall down the face of a cliff into the Karteri valley, where there
is a small coffee estate worked by a Frenchman; and, after crossing
a range of hills, in parts thickly wooded, and in parts covered with a
shrubby Justitia with a blue flower, we reached the coffee plantation
of Hoolicul,[412] owned by Mr. Stainbank. The highest part of his
estate is 5700 feet above the sea,[413] and here he has twenty-five
acres planted in rather poor soil. Below his house there are about
forty-five more acres planted, down the steep slopes of the hill,
some of the bushes in very good bearing. They are thick, as he is
against pruning the branches, saying that when covered by leafy
branches the fruit ripens by degrees, and consequently requires less
labour in picking. The estate has passed through several hands, and
the oldest trees were planted seventeen years ago. Mr. Stainbank
expects eventually to get fifty tons of coffee off this estate, in the
year. An acre will occasionally yield twenty-five hundredweight.
The view from the house is very fine. The plantation slopes away by
a very steep descent, and in the distance are the Lambton's Peak
range of mountains, and the wide plains of Coimbatore.
Leaving Hoolicul, we again descended into the ravine of Karteri,
where the river passes close under the steep face of the hills on
which the station of Coonoor stands, and on the slopes of the
opposite mountains there are several coffee estates. Mr. Dawson, a
son of the landlord of the hotel at Ootacamund, has 100 acres
planted; but the most extensive estate, on the steep slopes
overlooking the ghaut leading down into the Coimbatore plains,
belongs to Mr. Stanes. He has 200 acres planted with 250,000 trees,
up the precipitous sides of the mountain, facing east, and protected
from the excessive rains of the S.W. monsoon. The elevation above
the sea is upwards of 4800 feet. On the summits of the mountains
above this estate Mr. Stanes has induced the Todars to form two
cattle crawls, whence manure is washed down to his plantation. The
trees are planted in rows, 6 to 8 feet apart, and regularly topped
and pruned, so as to admit the sun to ripen the fruit on every
branch. They are from 4 to 6 feet high, and planted in holes 20
inches deep by 18; the young plants being brought from a nursery,
where seedlings are raised. The trees are generally in full bearing in
the third year. After the berries are picked, and brought in baskets to
the godown or warehouse, the pulp or fleshy part has to be
removed. The berries are placed in heaps in a loft, above the pulper,
looking bright and red like ripe cherries. They are then sent down a
shoot, into which a stream of water is conducted, and are thus
washed into the pulper. On Mr. Stanes's estate this machine is
worked by a water-wheel, but generally it is turned by hand and a
fly-wheel. The pulper is a roller covered with a sheet of copper,
made rough like a nutmeg-grater. The berries fall on it as it goes
round, but there is only room for the seed to pass, so that the pulp
is squeezed off, and carried away by a stream thrown off by the
water-wheel, while the naked coffee drops on the other side. The
seeds are still covered with glutinous matter, to remove which they
are well washed in a cistern, the inferior ones floating, while the
good ones sink. The coffee-seeds are then laid out on the barbecus,
square platforms of brick plastered with chunam, with sides a foot
high; where they dry in the sun for about three days, and are
afterwards stored in the godowns.
It is estimated that an acre of jungle on the Neilgherries may be
cleared for 200 Rs., including all expenses. The coffee-seedlings,
from the nursery, may be planted out in seven months, and they will
yield a first crop in three years. Coffee-seeds are 5 Rs. a bushel, and
that quantity will rear 10,000 plants, covering 10 acres. One acre
ought to yield one ton, when well cultivated, selling at Calicut,
uncleaned, for 4 annas the pound. In three years the estate ought to
pay 10 per cent. on the capital expended, if well conducted; the next
year the gross profit should increase to 60 per cent., and afterwards
to 100 per cent. A good dwelling-house will cost 4000 Rs.; the
pulping-house, machinery, and godowns, 4000 Rs. more. Carpenters
get 20 Rs. a month, bricklayers 15 Rs., with 2 annas a day batta for
coming out of the town, and common labourers 4½ Rs.
The Neilgherry planters have great advantages in the way of means
of conveyance from their estates to Calicut and Beypoor, their ports
of shipment. The coffee is carried down the Coonoor ghaut on pack-
bullocks to Matepoliem, and thence in carts along a good road, by
Palghatchery, to the sea-coast. Generally the coffee from the
Neilgherry estates is bought by Mr. Perry and Mr. Andrews at Calicut,
in rather a dirty state. They have garbling-machines for clearing
away all remaining dry pulp, and removing the outer coat from the
seeds; and they make their profit by shipping the coffee and selling
it in a clean state fit for European use. Neilgherry coffee has an
excellent name in the London market.
Europeans, on the Neilgherries, hold land by a puttum or grant from
Government, leasing it in perpetuity, so long as the assessment is
paid, which is fixed at 1 R. per acre of coffee-land, levied after the
third year. By the resolution of the Madras Government, dated
August 5th, 1859, the terms on which waste lands can be purchased
were regulated. These orders apply to all the regions in Southern
India which are suited for coffee or chinchona cultivation. It was
resolved to sell outright the fee-simple of all land used for building,
and of waste land in the hills, without reservation of quit-rent, and
with an absolute and indefeasible title, sold to the highest bidder at
an upset price, at twenty times the amount of yearly quit-rent or
land-tax. A title-deed will be given under the seal of the
Government, declaring the absolute title of the holder, free from all
demands on account of land-revenue, with full powers to dispose of
the land at pleasure, but not exempting it from payments for
municipal purposes. Other parties, however, claiming a previous right
in the land, will be free to sue the holder in the Civil Courts, up to a
certain time, so that it will be necessary to make careful
investigations on this point before purchasing. When the land-tax is
not redeemed, Government will issue permanent title-deeds,
reserving a quit-rent, and the holder will be free to redeem the tax,
on the same terms, at any future time.
With regard to labour on the Neilgherries, there used to be abundant
supplies of coolies from Mysore and Coimbatore, but they have
recently fallen off, owing to competition on the railway works. Mr.
Stanes was paying his labourers 4½ Rs. a month, and women 3½
Rs. He told me that he was particular always to pay every labourer
himself, and to be very kind to them, by which means he never
found any difficulty in procuring labour. Some of the planters get the
services of Badagas, and even of some Kurumbers in the picking-
time, but the hill tribes are not generally willing to work on the
coffee plantations. There are fifteen coffee estates on the Neilgherry
hills.
But the oldest coffee-district in Southern India is Wynaad, a forest-
covered plateau about 3000 feet above the sea, which adjoins the
Neilgherries on the north. In this district there are upwards of thirty
coffee-plantations, some of them, such as that of Messrs. Campbell
and Ouchterlony, near the ascent to the Neilgherry hills, being very
extensive.[414] There is a great rainfall in Wynaad during the S.W.
monsoon, and the crops are very abundant; but at the same time
the coffee is not so good as that grown in drier situations, such as
the Neilgherries near Coonoor, though the yield is greater. Most of
the available land is already taken up. The labour is derived from
Mysore, whence the coolies come, often from distances of sixty or
seventy miles, returning to their families when their wages are paid.
In 1860 the tax on coffee-estates in Wynaad was fixed at 2 Rs. an
acre on land actually planted, to be imposed in the third year, at
which time the trees are in bearing.[415]
The export trade in coffee, from all the hill-districts of Southern
India, was, in 1859-60, as follows:—
 Quantity. Value.
From the ports of Malabar 7,35,19,26lbs. 7,35,177 Rs
From the ports of Canara 5,13,36,35 8,66,644
From the ports of Tinnevelly 23,36,93 23,387
From the port of Madras 8,15,89,74 2,49,846
20,87,82,28 18,75,054
In connexion with the clearing of forests for coffee-cultivation, it is
imperative that due attention should be paid to the preservation of
valuable timber, and the conservancy of the belts of wood near the
sources and along the upper courses of streams, so as to ensure the
usual supplies of water, and to retain a due amount of moisture in
the atmosphere. For the superintendence of these important
measures, together with other duties, Dr. Cleghorn has been placed
at the head of a Forest Conservancy Department in the Madras
Presidency. He strongly urges that the high wooded mountain-tops
overhanging the low country should not be allowed to be cleared for
coffee-cultivation, lest the supplies of water should be injured.[416]
"The courses of rivulets," he says, "should be overshadowed with
trees, and the hills should therefore be left clothed for a distance of
half their height from the top, leaving half the slopes and all the
valleys for cultivation. Immense tracts of virgin forest in the valleys
of the Koondah hills are eminently suited for coffee-cultivation. The
clearing should only be allowed from 2500 to 4500 feet, this being
the extreme range within which coffee planted on a large scale is
found to thrive."
There are still thousands of acres of uncleared forests, at suitable
elevations, well adapted for the growth of coffee, in the cultivation
of which the English capitalist would make large and rapid profits;
yet it is not many years since the first coffee-plants were introduced
into these hills. Coffee now forms an important item in the exports
from the Madras Presidency. There is every reason to hope that the
bark from quinine-yielding chinchona-trees may also become one of
the valuable products of the hills; and in the following chapter I
propose to give an account of the selection of the sites for the first
experimental plantations.
 CHAPTER XXIII.
SELECTION OF SITES FOR CHINCHONA-PLANTATIONS ON THE
NEILGHERRY HILLS.
The Dodabetta site—The Neddiwuttum site.

In selecting sites for chinchona plantations in the Neilgherry hills we

had to compare the climate and other conditions of growth which
prevail in the chinchona forests and open pajonales in the Andes
with any similar localities which might be found in Southern India.
For the first experimental sites, it was of course important that the
resemblance, as regards elevation, temperature, and humidity,
should be as close as possible; but there was every reason to hope
that, under cultivation, these plants, like most others, would adapt
themselves to conditions of soil and climate extending over a far
more extensive area.
It was necessary to fix upon two sites in the first instance, one at
the highest point at which chinchona-plants were likely to flourish,
for the species from Loxa and others growing at great elevations,
and as an experimental plantation; and another in a lower and
warmer position for the plants of C. succirubra, C. Peruviana, C.
micrantha, and the tree C. Calisaya. The highest point at which
these plants will flourish, and the greatest exposure they will bear
without injury, are the most favourable conditions for the formation
of quinine; while, if the sholas in the upper plateau of the Neilgherry
hills should prove to be adapted for their growth, their cultivation
might be indefinitely extended in a climate suitable for English
settlers.
Previous to my arrival on the hills Mr. McIvor had selected a site for
the highest plantation in a wooded ravine or shola at the back of the
hills which rise above the Government gardens; and, after a careful
examination, I came to the conclusion that it was well suited for the
growth of the hardier species, and for the experimental culture of all
the kinds which have been introduced into India. It has been named
the "Dodabetta" site, from the peak, the highest point of the
Neilgherries, and 8640 feet above the sea, which rises up
immediately behind it.
With regard to the species for which I considered the Dodabetta site
to be suitable, it will be well in this place to recapitulate the
circumstances under which they grow on their native mountains.
The shrub variety of C. Calisaya (lat. 13° to 15° S.) flourishes in
open pajonales, quite exposed, at elevations from 5000 to 7000 feet
above the sea, and in April and May I found the mean temperature
to be 60⅓°, minimum 55°, and range 17°. The C. nitida (lat. 10° S.)
grows at similar elevations, but we have no exact information
respecting the temperature and humidity. The varieties of C.
Condaminea (lat. 4° S.) flourish at heights from 6000 to 8000 feet
above the sea, where the mean range is from 45° to 60°, in a moist
climate, and in exposed but always dry situations; and one kind, the
C. crispa, the seeds of which have been received in India and
Ceylon, grows in a deposit of peat, 8000 feet above the sea, in a
temperature falling as low as 27°.[417] The C. lancifolia (lat. 5° N.) is
found at 7000 feet above the sea and upwards, where the annual
range is from freezing-point to 75°, in an exceedingly moist climate.
The rainy season lasts for nine months, when the constant rain is
only interrupted in the day by interchanging sun-rays and fog-
clouds. In the dry season cold clear nights follow days in which a
warm sun penetrates through the fog, which almost constantly lies
on the damp foliage of the forest.[418] Mr. Cross mentions that he
saw trees of C. succirubra on his way to Loxa, growing at elevations
of from 8000 to 9000 feet above the sea.
The site, in the Dodabetta ravine, slopes down from 7700 to 7600
feet above the sea, yet, from local causes, it is several degrees
warmer than the station at Ootacamund; and the temperature
agrees with that of the species of chinchona-plants described above.
The annual temperature of the peak of Dodabetta, of Ootacamund,
and of the warmer station of Kotergherry, are given on the following
page.
The Dodabetta site, being four or five degrees warmer than
Ootacamund, throughout the year, has a temperature, on the whole,
somewhat warmer than the lofty regions where the species of
chinchona grow, for the cultivation of which this position was
selected. The elevation above the sea exactly corresponds, and the
amount of humidity is about the same. The ravine is full of fine
trees, with a variety of exposures, the general aspect being north-
west; a clear little stream flows through it; and, in most parts, the
soil consists of a rich loam four or five feet deep. Outside the
wooded ravine there are tree Rhododendrons, Berberis, Gaultherias,
lilies, Lycopodia, and brake-ferns, scattered about on the grassy
slopes; and the character of the scenery and vegetation very closely
resembles that of the pajonal country between the valleys of Sandia
and Tambopata in Caravaya, where the shrub Calisaya flourishes.
The site is protected by rising grounds from the cold northerly
winds, and the colder breezes blowing over it from ridge to ridge
prevent the warm air in the ravine from rising, so that the
temperature became warmer as we ascended through the wood,
and in the highest part there were orchids and pepper-vines hanging
on the trees.
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.
I selected this site for a plantation of C. succirubra, C. Calisaya, C.
micrantha, and the very delicate C. Peruviana, because, with a good
supply of water, and a deep rich soil on a base of decomposing
laterite and syenite, it had a suitable elevation above the sea,
temperature, and amount of humidity. The information we possess
on these points, with regard to the above species, is by no means
complete; but it is sufficiently exact to enable us to form a correct
opinion. Mr. Spruce gives the following details respecting the climate
of the region of C. succirubra, in latitude 1° 40´ S. The zone of the
"red bark" is from 2450 to 5000 feet above the sea.
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