Coimbatore

“ The British troops advanced from Coimbatore on the 29th of September, and, arriving at Errode on the 4th of October, found the place abandoned, and Tippoo’s army gone. He had marched in the direction of Coimbatore; but, hearing that the garrison was augmented, he advanced rapidly upon Darraporam, against which the Sultan opened his batteries on the 8th of October. The fort had no cannon mounted, and the garrison, consisting of a hundred Europeans and two hundred sepoys, capitulated on honourable terms, to which the enemy strictly adhered. ”

“ The troops from Coimbatore, however, had marched to his support, and, on the junction being effected, Tippoo Saïb retired. The British returned to [32] Coimbatore on the 23rd September. Upon the march of the main body, the flank companies of the Seventy-first and Seventy-second were withdrawn from the siege of Palghautcherry, and ordered to take post in the fort of Coimbatore: and on the return of the army they rejoined their regiments. ”

“ Their country is divided into twenty-four nādus, each comprising a certain number of villages, and possessing recognised head-quarters, which are arranged into four groups under the villages of Palayakottai, Kāngayam, Pudūr and Kadayūr, all in the Coimbatore district. Each village is under a Kottukkāran, each nādu under a Nāttu-kavundan or Periyatanakkāran, and each group under a Pattakkāran. ”

“ The District of Coimbatore has an area of 7860 sq. m. It may be described as a flat, open country, hemmed in by mountains on the north, west and south, but opening eastwards on to the great plain of the Carnatic; the average height of the plain above sea-level is about 900 ft. The principal mountains are the Anamalai Hills, in the south of the district, rising at places to a height of between 8000 and 9000 ft. In the west the Palghat and Vallagiri Hills form a connecting link between the Anamalai range and the Nilgiris, with the exception of a remarkable gap known as the Palghat Pass. ”

“ The whole character of the country is luxuriantly tropical, and though the lowlands are not more fertile than the matchless delta of the Ganges, the more varied prodigality of nature shows itself alike in the waving forests of cocoanut, which are common all along the coast, in the rich tobacco-fields of Madura and Coimbatore, in the plantations of cinchona, pepper, cardamoms, and other spices on the slopes of the Nilgiri highlands, and in the splendid growths of teak, ebony, and sandalwood that clothe the Western Ghats. ”

“ In religious observances, they are more strict than the generality of Brāhmans; they abstain from both intoxicating liquors and flesh meat." In the Coimbatore Manual, the Vellālas are summed up as "truly the backbone of the district. It is they who, by their industry and frugality, create and develop wealth, support the administration, and find the money for imperial and district demands. ”

“ In South Coimbatore, "honey-combs are collected by Irulas, Muduvars, and Kādirs. The collection is a dangerous occupation. A hill-man, with a torch in his hand and a number of bamboo tubes suspended from his shoulders, descends by means of ropes or creepers to the vicinity of the comb. The sight of the torch drives away the bees, and he proceeds to fill the bamboos with the comb, and then ascends to the top of the rock." ”

“ He is a justice of the peace, but his authority is reduced to nothing in consequence of his being subject to the civil power at Coimbatore. A more uncomfortable position for a military man to be placed in you cannot conceive. ”

“ Coimbatore. Other traditions add that the Virūpākshi and Ayyakudi poligars (feudal chieftains) helped them to settle on their land in the hills, which up to then had only been cultivated by indolent Pulaiyans. The Kunnuvans ousted these latter, and eventually turned them into predial serfs—a position from which they have hardly yet freed themselves. In every village is a headman, called the Mannādi, who has the usual powers. The caste is divided into three endogamous sections, called Vaguppus, namely, Periya (big) Kunnuvar, Kunnuvar, and Chinna (little) Kunnuvar. They will eat together. ”

“ Coimbatore (46) , a town of strategic importance in the Madras Presidency, 30 m. SW. of Madras, situated in a gorge of the Ghâts, 1437 ft. above the sea-level, in a district (2,004) of the same name.
Coimbra (14) , a rainy town in Portugal, of historical interest, 110 m. NNE. of Lisbon, with a celebrated university, in which George Buchanan was a professor, where he was accused of heresy and thrown into prison, and where he translated the Psalms into Latin.
Coke, coal with a residue of carbon and earthy matter after the volatile constituents are driven off by heat in closed spaces. ”

“ The laborious occupation of the men tends to develop their muscles. I have seen some very fine men among the tribe.”
Coimbatore.—“Numerous, owing to the hard nature of the subsoil and the immense and increasing number of irrigation wells, which demand the labour of strong men accustomed to the use of the crowbar, pick-axe, and powder. They are black, strong, and of good physique, highly paid, and live on strong meat and drink.”
Madura.—“An itinerant caste of tank-diggers and earth-workers. ”

“ Men and women thus found a profitable occupation. In Coimbatore, the wives of all the low class cultivators were great spinners.
The statistics of weavers show that they also were as numerous as the spinners. In the Patna city and Behar district, the total number of looms employed in the manufacture of chaddars and table cloths was 750, and the value of the annual manufactures was Rs. 5,40,000 leaving a profit of Rs. 81,400, deducting the value of thread. This gave a profit of Rs. 108 for each loom worked by three persons or an income of Rs. 36 a year for each person. ”

“ The city stands 1437 ft. above sea-level, is well laid out and healthy, and is rendered additionally attractive to European residents by its picturesque position on the slopes of the Nilgiri hills. It is an important industrial centre, carrying on cotton weaving and spinning, tanning, distilling, and the manufacture of coffee, sugar, manure and saltpetre. ”

“ It seems Sir G. Murray did speak last night, but he went further than he intended on Reform, and so rather damaged our position as a Government.
Office. Saw Mr. Sullivan. He seems a sensible, liberal man. His evidence would be a death-blow to the government of the Company. He says the cotton of Coimbatore is carried to Tinnevelly and thence to Madras by country boats, where it is taken up by the China ships. It might be sent directly to the sea on the Malabar coast, the distance being 300 miles. There is no obstruction to the cultivation. The country is under a Ryotwar settlement. ”

“ The Madras and Bengal are scarcely better; so that, upon the whole, the Levant cottons, which take so low a position, are for the finer purposes of the manufacturer, superior to what at present our great Eastern Empire despatches for the necessities of the mother country; that great Eastern Empire, with its immense extent of districts—Coimbatore, Madura, and Tinnevelley, over which the hand of Nature has so lavishly scattered her gifts, and where British wealth and intelligence exert so much of their powerful and life-giving influence. ”

“ At Coimbatore, the headman is called Pattakāran and he is assisted by various subordinate officers and a caste messenger called Ōdumpillai. In cases of theft, the guilty person has to carry a man on his back round the assembly, while two persons hang on to his back-hair. He is beaten on the cheeks, and the Ōdumpillai may be ordered to spit in his face. A somewhat similar form of punishment is inflicted on a man proved guilty of having intercourse with a married woman.
In connection with the caste organisation of the Pallans in the Trichinopoly district, Mr. ”

“ It occupies the south declivity of the Nilgiri, 1483 feet above the sea, and has a cool and healthful climate. The adjacent low-lying plains, however, are malarious and dangerous to health. The suburban Pagoda of Perur is an important archæological structure. ”

“ Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." By thus throwing open the door of entrance, God is, as it were, making that command specific for India.
The town of Coimbatoor is the centre of a district of the same name, containing about a million inhabitants, and is three hundred miles distant from Madras. It is a flourishing place with sixty thousand inhabitants, and surrounded by a fertile plain, yielding large crops of cotton, rice, and tobacco. ”

“ Coimbatoor affords a fair specimen of the towns of Southern India. Its streets are regular, many of them narrow and mean, some of them broad, and quite well built, with houses one story in height, but without windows upon the street except here and there a grated aperture for the admission of light to a room not facing on the central court. Each house has in front a small verandah, or piol, of masonry or clay, where the occupants, at least the males, spend much of their time ”

“ Being thus at a less elevation, Conoor has a milder climate, and is chosen as a residence by those who prefer a less sudden change from the heat of the plains. A dozen English houses are scattered over the hills at the head of the pass leading to Coimbatoor. The spot is one of great beauty, and commands a noble view. Below you, a mountain-stream finds its way through a deep ravine, on the other side of which Hoolicul, the Tiger Mountain, rises toweringly, clothed with wood from its base to its summit, and crowned, where it hangs over the lowlands, with a deserted fortress. ”

“ From a long distance we can see the white band of breakers dashing against the beach, and as we approach closer a forest of steamer funnels, sails, and masts, and beyond them a long row of Asiatic and European buildings. That is Colombo, the capital of Ceylon, and a very important port for all vessels which ply between Europe and the Far East. Gently the Delhi enters the passage between the harbour moles, and is at once surrounded by a fleet of rowing boats from the shore. Singalese and Hindus swarm up the gangways, and throw themselves with much jabbering on the traveller's possessions. ”

“ Colombo is an artificial harbour enclosing over 600 acres. Trincomalie is one of the best natural harbours in the world. It is now abandoned as a naval station, but one day the Indian Government may see the utility of securing the advantage of the only harbour on the western shores of the Bay of Bengal south of Calcutta by constructing a railway over Adam's Bridge to connect with a Ceylon line from Manaar to Trincomalie, in which event the latter would become the principal port for Eastern trade with Southern India. ”

“ The chief modern work is the anicut across the Coleroon, 2250 ft. long, constructed by Sir Arthur Cotton between 1836 and 1838. The Cauvery Falls have been utilized for an electric installation, which supplies power to the Kolar gold-mines and light to the city of Mysore.
The Cauvery is known to devout Hindus as Dakshini Ganga, or the Ganges of the south, and the whole of its course is holy ground. According to the legend there was once born upon earth a girl named Vishnumaya or Lopamudra, the daughter of Brahma ”

“ The whole country forms a wild expanse of forest, mountain and stream. The valleys are covered with dense jungle, dotted with small lakes and marshes. Coal is known to exist in many localities, as well as iron ore and petroleum. The administrative headquarters' of the district are at Kohima (pop. 3093) , which is garrisoned by two companies of native infantry and a battalion of military police. The Dimapur-Manipur cart-road crosses the hills, connecting Kohima with the Assam-Bengal railway. ”

“ Few who visit the Kootub, if they have strength for the toilsome ascent, fail to go to the summit, and well does it repay the effort. It is sublime to look up to the unclouded heavens, to which you seem so near, while beneath and beyond, the eye wanders over not merely the city beneath, but across to modern Delhi, with its white and glittering mosques and palaces, the silvery Jumna gently pouring along, the feudal towers of Selimghur, and the mausoleums of Humayun and Sufter Jung, all in the soft light of the India sunset ”

“ Truly Coventry may well have been called a city of convents, hospitals, monasteries, and other religious houses. On enlarging the Blue Coat School building the foundations of the ancient cathedral were brought to light.
In addition to all these benevolent foundations for education, another for the material comfort and well-being of the common people is a most valuable perquisite to them. It consists of 1,300 acres, lying around the city, of common land on which any poor man may pasture his cow without charge. ”

“ The tourist will show his wisdom by not going too far afield in his sight-seeing; the three churches and S. Mary's Hall will, with a passing look at many a picturesque narrow street, carved gable, or interesting relic of old Coventry, furnish him with some hours' occupation. Those, of course, who possess indomitable physical and mental energy may ascend S. Michael's spire for the view's sake, or brave a walk through the somewhat dreary environs of Coventry to the historic but commonplace-looking strip of land known as Gosford Green. ”

“ A thoroughly corrupt borough in the worst days of municipal corruption, rigidly Puritan under the Stuarts, loyal under Elizabeth, steady for hereditary right at Mary's accession—but Protestant, as witness its martyrs—Lollard in the hey-day of Lollardry, patriotic and Talbot-worshipping in the Hundred Years' War—as England was, so was Coventry. In art and letters, also, the city recalls what is most characteristic in the achievements of the English people. ”