PLACES

MATHERAN

Matheran (T. Karjat; 18° 55' N, 73° 15' E; p. 2,808; RS.) the wooded head [ According to the Matheran Dhangars the word means the Mother's Wood. They say that the first family of Dhangars who came from the Deccan to Matheran lost their father and mother soon after they came, as the couplet says, 'Mathe pite gamavila, Matheran nav pavala: When their parents died, Matheran got its name'.], is an even-topped line of hill, about thirty miles east of Bombay, an outstanding block of the Sahyadris, its long level back stretching in marked contrast to the sharp clear-cut scarp of its neighbour Bava Malang, or the Cathedral Rocks.

As a crow flies Matheran is only thirty miles east of Bombay, but by railway, which sweeps south-east through Kalyan, the distance to Neral station, at the north-east foot of the hill, is about fifty-four miles, and from Neral to the centre of the hill top is seven miles by road.

Close behind the village of Neral, about half a mile to the south of the station, rises the steep bare side of Panorama Point, the northmost spur of Matheran. At its foot the plain swells into flat-topped knolls separated by the teak-clad slopes of monsoon torrents. From the lower spurs the hillside rises steep and bare with black crags and walls of rock, and, in sheltered nooks and hollows, patches of trees and brushwood. About half way up a wooded terrace runs parallel to the flat hill top. Above the terrace rises a second steep slope of grass and black rock; over this is a narrow belt of evergreen forest; and last of all a flat-topped cliff crowned with trees. From the foot of the topmost cliff a large spur stretches east towards the Sahyadris, steep and difficult where it leaves the hill, then gradually sloping, then a plateau, and finally turning to the north and sinking into the plain in a rugged knoll close to Neral.

The Way Up.

Apart from the small gauge railway Matheran can be approach- ed by two roads. The first is via Cauk on Bombay-Poona road by foot-path and another via Neral from Central Railway line by a Kutcha District Local Board road.

The State Government with the help of the Central Government had decided to lay a motorable road from Panvel to Matheran.

The road up the hill, from Neral railway station, passes south through Neral town of stone-walled and tiled houses, and runs for about a mile along the foot of the rocky spur skirting a belt of rice lands, which, divided by the Neral stream and shaded by a few clusters of Mahuva, tamarind, and mango trees, runs up the hollows to the foot of the hill. During the second mile the hillside, in places cut into the rock winds about 550 feet up the western face of the spur. To the left, during the hot months, the black and yellow of the rocky withered upper slopes are relieved by patches of bright green bushes, rows of reddish half-withered underwood, and a stunted coppice of leafless teak [The green bushes are, karvand Carissa carandas, and kuda Tabernoemontana crispa; the half-withered underwood is davti Grislea tomentosa.]. Towards the end of the second mile and during the first quarter of the third mile, till the crest of the spur is gained, the upper slopes rise rocky and bare with a scanty sprinkling of leafless or half-clothed bushes, some stunted teak, and, in a few nooks and hollows, a deep green mango or a grey-green fig [The leafless and half-clothed bushes are, papti pavetta indica, davti Grislea tomentosa, kuda Tabernoemontana crispa, and ain Terminalia glabra.].

The lower slopes have patches of bright green karvand bushes and mangoes, and a thick growth of teak and other leafless or nearly leafless trees [The leafless trees are the mori Casearia loevigata, pahir Ficus cordifolia, suir Salmalia malabarica, kaundal Sterculia urens, and ranbhendi Thespesia lampas.]. About a quarter of a mile past the second mile, the road tops the crest of the spur and runs west, along the plateau that stretches to the body of the hill. This plateau, rising gently to the north-west, is rocky and bare with dry underwood, bright green karvand brakes, a sprinkling of leafless teak, and scattered mangoes, jambuls, and figs. In places there are wooded knolls and hollows, but the smooth bareness of most of the surface, and the hacked and stunted forms of the trees and bushes, show that in the past much of it was under tillage. In front rise the tree-capped crest of Garbat and the Governor's Hill, and to the right Panorama Point, and beyond it the flat-topped bluff of Peb Fort and the rounded peak of Nakhinda. To the left Garbat stretches in a long low spur that rises in the distance into the sharp point of Sondai. From the foot of the Garbat ridge a succession of bare flat-topped spurs, divided by deep-cut ravines, fall into the plain which stretches withered and misty towards the dimlooking Sahyadri hills.

During the third mile, with a rise of about 550 (975.38 to 1,525.07) the road leaves the plateau and climbs a rugged hill-side, strewn with boulders and with lines of coarse withered grass, dry underwood, and bare leafless trees [The chief leafless trees, besides those already noticed, are the kunak and pangara Erythrina indica.]. Close to the fourth mile, at a height of 1,525.07 feet, the road enters the sheltered belt of the Neral wood with varied tints of green and a sprinkling of leafless grey [The chief tints are, deep green mangoes and alus Vanguiera edulis, rich fresh palas Butea frondosa, bright green karvand bushes, the hirdas Terminalia chebula, yellow-green kumbas Careya arborea, brown-tipped ains Terminalia glabra, and leafless pahirs, suirs, and varas Heterophragma roxburghii.]. In a tree-fringed glade close to the fourth mile is a small shed, and a stand-pipe and trough with water that lasts for about ten months in the year. Beyond this hollow, the road winds between the upper fringe of the wood and a bare rocky scarp, till it reaches the upper wooded plateau, where, leaving the Bherli Mad or Wild-Palm grove on the right, it skirts the upper edge of the rich Bekri Wood, overlooking a sea of waving tree tops whose bright leafage, unfrayed by wind and undimmed by dust, rises from the breach-like terrace that skirts the foot of the Garbat crag. Below this belt of green stretch the grey underslopes, and beyond the slopes lies the misty plain, its baked and withered fields, relieved by groves and ponds and by the flashing links of the slow-flowing Ulhas. To the right, with sharp steep zig zags, the road mounts the bare face of the topmost scarp, reaching at the fifth mile a height of 2,138.49 feet. A little beyond the mile stands the toll, on the crest of the neck between the high headlands of Governor's Hill to the north and Garbat Hill to south.

The Hill Top.

The hill top, which has an estimated area of 5,000 acres or about eight square miles, consists of a main central block and two smaller side ridges or wings. The central block, with an average breadth of about half a mile, stretches nearly north and south from the narrow ridge of Hart Point in the north to the rounded bluff of Cauk in the south. Parallel with the main hill, and joined to it by short necks, are two spurs, the larger, to the east, stretching about two and a half miles from Panorama Point in the north to Garbat in the south and the smaller, to the west, stretching about a mile and a half from the sharp point of Porcupine to the large bluff of Louisa Point.

The toll, at the top of the steep zig zag on the Neral road, stands about the middle of the east wing or outlying belt. From the toll the east wing runs north for about a mile and a quarter, rising into the tree-crowned crest of Governor's Hill, and, beyond a deeply-wooded hollow, stretching into the long back of Panorama Point. South of the toll, beyond the rugged deeply-wooded Garbat Head, the spur narrows to a neck, and, again broadening to about a quarter of a mile, tapers, with a high-wooded crest, nearly a mile south to Garbat Point. West from the Neral toll, through thick woods, the ground falls, for about a quarter of a mile, to the flat neck or isthmus, which between high richly-wooded banks, joins the eastern wing to the north end of the central hill.

From this neck the central hill, wooded throughout except a few glades and rocky plateaus, swells into tree-crowned knolls, and stretches south for nearly three miles to the bluff rounded cliff of Cauk. The central hill-top may be roughly divided into three parts. A north section, that, with one or two knolls, rises from the edge of the cliff to a raised plateau of rock about 2,500 feet above the sea; a middle section, that, from both sides, slopes nearly 300 feet to the bed of the west-flowing Pisarnath stream; and a south section, that, with a rocky central plateau little lower than the north plateau, and one or two outstanding knolls, stretches from the valley of the Pisarnath to the rounded bluff of Cauk. For about a mile from Hart Point to the Church Plateau, the northern section of the hill is thinly peopled, with only a broken line of houses separated by stretches of woods. On the Church plateau the houses stand closer together, and, along the edge of the eastern cliff, groups of hut-like houses and small shops cluster round the market place. The slopes of the central hollow are the thickest peopled part of the hill, rows of close-grouped houses stretching across nearly the whole breadth of the hill-top. The southern section, includes the buildings of Olympiea Hotel and Tata Convalescent Home.

From the central hill, about a quarter of a mile west of the Church plateau, a low thickly wooded neck, about 200 yards long and half a mile broad, leads to the small western wing or hill-belt, which, with bare narrow ends and a wooded central crest, stretches about a mile and a quarter from Porcupine Point on the north to ' Louisa Point on the south.

Over almost the whole hill-top there is little soil, scarcely any grass, and a thick crop of small black boulders. The topmost layer of rock is a soft porous iron-clay, through which, by the beginning of the hot season, the whole rainfall has drained, leaving in many places a leafless black underwood, glades of withered grass, and pathways deep in rusty dust. In spite of this dryness and want of soil, except some winding glades, one or two stretches of bare sheet rock, and the wind-swept shoulders of the larger spurs, the hill-top is everywhere shaded by a thick growth of brushwood, creepers, and trees. In parts, the rocky leaf-strewn ground has only a scanty undergrowth of leafless bushes, and the trees are so stunted and gnarled as to be little more than coppice. But over most of the hill top the boulders are hid by a sprinkling of seedlings and evergreen brushwood, the thicket is green with the fresh hanging boughs of well-grown trees, and, in sheltered dells and hollows, the underwood is full of leaves, long-armed climbers swathe the lower trees and bushes into masses, of green, and lofty tree-tops wave high overhead. Through all these woods and thickets narrow lanes wind up and down the uneven hill-top shaded and often overarched with trees. From outlying points, where the lane winds clear of the thicket, the wooded hill-top swells from edge of the cliff to the central ridge, a cool bank of fresh green broken by only a few of the higher house-tops. Through a screen of waving branches and tree tops, across the bay-like valleys, the hill-sides fall in steep rings of trap, each ring marked by a band of yellow grass or a belt of evergreen timber. The lower slopes are gashed with watercourses, lines of black rock dividing brown bare-topped knolls, whose sides, except some patches of evergreen brushwood, are grey with the stems and branches of teak and other leaf-shedding trees. For a mile or two further, smooth flat-topped mounds, divided by deep ravines, stretch across the brown withered plain.

Neral-Matheran Railway.

Half way between Bombay and Poona rise the Matheran Hills which fulfil every need of holiday makers and of the convalescents. Situated at a height of 2,500 feet, it is a desirable health resort. Majestically situated on the outline of western ghats, Matheran commands a panoramic view of the plains which separate the mountain chains from the sea. It looks all the more beautiful on account of the permanent foliage which has earned for it the name it has today.

The travelling public of today owe their gratitude for the discovery of Neral-Matheran road to Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy. Fascinated by the charm of this hill he established a path-way connecting Neral and Matheran, so as to enable him and the public to visit this place at will. Visitors climbed the hill either on a horseback or in palanquins. To put this on a commercial basis he appointed one agent to look after the arrangements of traffic. This being the only conveyance available at one's disposal, people visiting Matheran solely depended on the management to arrange palanquins for them. It was Mr. Abdul Hussein, the second son of Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy, who pioneered the starting of railway on these hills.

A survey to lay the permanent way was carried out with the help of German engineers. After covering about 1½ miles of track, however, the project was abandoned due to some engineering difficulties. Later on, one Shri Rai Bahadur, an engineer from Punjab thoroughly surveyed the position of the track and met with success in diverting the track to the left side of the hill. This singular success was to scale the ascent of the 2,500 feet of the hill by a rail-track. To start with, four German experts on narrow gauge called for from Darjeeling set German made coaches on the track in 1907 thus realising the long cherished dream of the Peerbhoys.

With help of G. I. P. railway authorities who looked after the commercial department of the new venture Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy managed it so smoothly and efficiently that every season more and more passengers started visiting Matheran. After the death of Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy and his son Sir Abdul Hussein, however, the Neral-Matheran railway was not properly looked after as it used to be. This resulted in a serious downfall in the business. The management unable to maintain it, mortgaged it to the Maharaja of Gwalior for Rs. 4 lakhs, in 1927. Sir Abdul (grandson of Sir Adamjee), however, took the management of the commercial department from G. I. P.

In 1928, the Maharaja of Gwalior obtained a decree of the court to run this railway as a limited company subject to the management of shareholders. Eventually, three petrol-driven motors were engaged, two of which arc still going strong.

The Neral-Matheran railway continued to attract people from all quarters of the country and even from abroad. The number of visitors to Matheran, which is growing every year is enough to indicate how much the Neral-Matheran railway has contributed to the popularity of Matheran.

Points.

The six leading points or headlands are, Hart at the north and Cauk at the south of the central bill, Panorama at the north and Garbat at the south of the east wing, and Porcupine at the north and Louisa at the south of the west wing. Besides these, several smaller bluffs or capes break the winding lips of the bay-like valleys that separate the main arms or spurs of the hill. The seven most important of these smaller bluffs are, Alexander and Little Cauk in the south-east between Garbat and Great Cauk, One Tree Hill, Danger, Echo, and Landscape between Great Cauk and Louisa; and Monkey in the north-west between Porcupine and Hart. In addition to these smaller headlands, three spots in the central crest of the hill are known as points, Artist Point to the north of the Church Plateau, Sphinx Point above Alexander Point, and Bartle Point to the south of Cauk hotel.

There is considerable sameness in the leading features of these points. In most of the main points a wooded crest narrows into a bare boulder-strewn slope, and the slope dwindles into a smooth flat tongue or table of rock, ending in a cliff clean cut or buttressed by an outlying tower-like crag. From distant parts of the hill the points stand out, with stretches of black rock, white patches of sun-bleached grass, ragged copse, or a few stunted wind-worried trees.

Almost all of these outstanding headlands command views of the green swelling summit of the hill, of its black wall-like cliffs, evergreen plateaus, and steep under-slopes, and of the hazy smoke-dimmed plain, that, broken by isolated blocks of hill and brightened by ponds and wooded villages, stretches north beyond the Ulhas valley, east to the Sahyadris, south through a rugged land of confused spurs and peaks, and west, between the even mass of Prabal and the shivered scarp of the Cathedral Rocks, beyond the salt flats of Panvel, to the shimmering sea from which dimly rise the ships and buildings of Bombay. The distant bills of Salsette and North Thana, the bluffs and peaks of the Sahyadri range, and the flat ridges and isolated crests of Bor and Kolaba are seldom clearly seen. But to the south-west the sharp pillar of Visalgad stands out from the centre of a swelling plateau; to the west, from a belt of bright green forest, rise the steep bare sides of the flat tree-crowned crest of Prabal; and to the north, sweeping north-west from Panorama point, their lower slopes half hid by haze, stand, in mid air, the fantastic rocks and pinnacles of Canderi, Tavli, and Bava Malang, their scarps and crests clear cut as by the hand of man.

Beginning from the north and working east the points come in the following order: Hart, Panorama, Garbat, Alexander, Little Cauk, Great Cauk, One Tree Hill, Danger, Echo, Landscape, Louisa, Porcupine, and Monkey.

Hart.

Hart Point, at the north end of the central block of hill, takes its name from Mr. W. Hart, of the Bombay Civil Service, who was Secretary to Government about 1858. Its native name is Kaleraika Pada or the Black Forest plateau. Near Hart Point the path runs along a wooded crest with fine views of the wild Bava Malang hills. Leaving the main body of the hill it winds down a rather steep wooded slope to the Point, which is a narrow windswept table of black rock with patches of yellow grass, a few stunted bushes to the west, and a row of trees fringing a sheltered crevice to the east. To the right, across the deeply wooded gathering ground of one of the branches of the Malduhga stream, rises a bare high bluff, and on the other side of the main valley runs the long high shoulder of Governor's Hill and Panorama Point richly wooded in the south and stretching north barer and more weather-worn, with straggling crannies yellow with dry grass and a few hollows and narrow ledges green with bushes and trees. North-west of Panorama Point stretch the wild fantastic peaks of the Bava Malang range. To the left, beyond the wooded hollow of Malet's spring, the bare scarps of Porcupine Point rise in a narrow flat-topped cliff. Beyond Porcupine Point are the massive isolated crag and long-wooded back of Prabal, and, in the plain, the low hills of Vanja and Morpa.

Panorama.

Panorama Point, the north end of the eastern wing or ridge, takes its name from its far-stretching views to the east and north. Its native name is Gadaci Sond or the Fort Head, because it overlooks Peb Fort, the most eastern peak of the Bava Malahg range. Leaving the thickly wooded neck above the Simpson Reservoir the path winds among deep woods, which every now and then open on the right and show the tree-covered slope of Governor's Hill. From these woods the path crosses open ground with less soil and less shelter, and smaller and more stunted trees. To the right the hill-side rises bare and rocky, broken by clumps and patches of trees [The chief trees are the dark close-growing and thorny kumba Careya arborea, and the tall bare or russet-leaved varas Heterophragma roxburghii.]. To the south, looking across to the Simpson Reservoir, thick tall trees hide the site of the Elphinstone Lake, whose ruined earthen dam shows red among the trees. Further on, the windswept spur gradually narrows to a rocky neck only a few yards wide. Beyond the neck the point rises into a knoll crowned by a small dark grove, and again sinks into a bare table of rock [The trees are wild limes, makhadis Atalantia monophylla, anjanis Memecylon edule, and jambuls Syzigium Jambolanum.]. The point commands one of the widest views on the hill, both of Matheran itself and of the plain and hills to the east, north, and west. To the south-east at the foot of the bold wooded crest of Governor's Hill stretches the rich green belt of the Bherli Mad or Wild-Palm forest, and, beyond are the lower slopes brown and grey with teak and other leaf-shedding trees. Across the plain, beyond some isolated flat-topped blocks of hill, looms the massive wall of the Sahyadris, many of whose bluffs and fortified peaks can be recognised when the air is clear. In the foreground, northwest from the end of the point, stretches the great Bava Malahg range, beginning in Peb or Pebak whose bare flat-topped head is circled with the remains of Moghal and Maratha fortifications. Behind Peb, rising, with a rather gentle slope into a rounded point and then falling in a narrow ridge, is Nakhind. Beyond Nakhind bare steep spurs rise to the foot of the massive tower-like crest of Canderi. Further off are the jagged peaks of Mhas-Mal and Navara-Navari, or the husband and wife, said to be so called because the hillside once opened and swallowed a marriage party crossing from Badlapur to Panvel. In the extreme west the range ends in a pair of great hills, to the right the long rugged outline of Tavli and to the left the sharp clear-cut pinnacles of Bava Malang or the Cathedral Rocks. To the left, with Prabal as back ground, is a fine view of the wooded ravines and bare cliffs of Hart, Monkey, and Porcupine Points.

In [The details of the distant view were contributed by Mr. F. B. Maclaran, C. E. The more distant hills can be seen only in very clear weather.] the distance, to the west or south-west, just clear of Prabal, are Great and Little Karanja (1,000). North of these lies Bombay harbour with Elephanta (568) in the centre and the long level line of Bombay in the distance. Further north, the first high land is Trombay, or the Neat's tongue (1,000). Still further north, beyond the long stretch of the Kurla marshes and rice-lands, rise the Salsette hills in three waves, each wave marking the site of one of the Bombay reservoirs, Vihar to the left, Tulsi in the centre, and the Yeur to the right. In front of the Yeur hill lies Parsik Point, pierced by the Central Railway, and, beyond Parsik, winds the Kalyan creek or estuary of the Ulhas. Over the creek to the north, between Bava Malang and Tavli, rise the peak of Kamandurg (2,160) and the table land of Tungar (2,195). Clear of Tavli, to the right, stands the high cone of Dugad, and, beyond it, Takmak, (2,616), overlooking the Vaitarna valley. North of Takmak, the Surya range, visible only on very clear days, ends in the far north in the jagged-top of the great fort of Aseri (1,689). Eastward there is little to attract the eye in the Vada hills, but, on the north horizon, over the point of Peb, may be seen the sacred peak of Mahalaksmi [ Details of Mahalakshmi are given above.]. Still further east, from the middle distance, rises the deeply-cleft ridge of Mahuli (2,815), guarded on the west by a tower-like column of basalt. Close behind the chief hill, and apparently adjoining it, is Chota or Little Mahuli. The bold distant headland, east of Mahuli, is Vatvad, the farthest visible point of the Sahyadri range. Behind Vatvad, to the east, is the famous hill of Trimbak (4,254), the sacred source of the Godavari. Still further east, and a little to the south, is Anjaneri (4,384) the hot-weather hill of Nasik, which lies fourteen miles to the east. Southward, as far as the range that separates Nasik from Ahmadnagar, the line of the Sahyadris has no striking hills. On the range that separates Nasik from Ahmadnagar are the forts of Alang and Kulang, and, among the broken tops of the neighbouring hills, can be made out the conical peak of Kalsubai (5,427), the highest point of the Sahyadris. Further south Ghatghar and other peaks form a rugged and broken range, whose most interesting feature, Hariscandragad (4,562), is hid behind the crest of the Sahyadris which here turn west to Sidgad, whose sugar-loaf peak (3,236) stands out from the main line. The twin detached hills to the north of Sidgad are Gorakh-gad and Machindragad. Further south, on the line of the Sahyadri crest, is Bhimasankar (3,434), and, in front of Bhimasankar, the detached hill-fort of Tungi (2,019), and still further south on another detached hill the fort of Peth.

The Panorama Point view of the Sahyadris ends with Peth. But the top of Panorama hill, or better still Garbat Point, commands a magnificent view of the southern Sahyadris and the Kolaba hills. Following the line south from Peth are the detached tableland of Dhak (2,808), then the famous hill fort of Rajmaci (2,710) with its wall and gateways, and still further south the Nagphani or Cobra's Hood commonly known as the Duke's Nose. East of the Nagphani are the hill-forts of Lohogad (3,415) and Visapur in Poona district, and, to the south, are Tel Bela, Dhondsa, Bhorap, and Pall. Of the South the most striking is Manikgad (1,878), like a smaller Vatvad, a few miles south of Cauk village. West of Manikgad is the well-known funnel of Karnala (1,840), a land-mark for ships entering Bombay harbour. Between Manikgad and Karnala, beyond the silver line of the Dharamtar creek, the Alibag hills complete the circle with the fortified head of Sagargad (1,164), and the sacred top of Kanakesvar (1,000).

Garbat Point.

Garbat Point, the south end of the eastern wing takes its name from the quartz crystals or gars found on the spur that runs east towards Karjat. Crossing the shoulder of Garbat hill the path sinks and runs along the eastern face of the point, forty or fifty feet below the crest of Garbat hill. The bank on the right is well-wooded and below lie the varied tints of the evergreen Bekri forest [ The deep greens are anjanis Memecylon. edule, phansis Caralli integerrima, kumblas Sapota tomentosa, and mangoes; the blue greens are pisas Actinodaphne lanceolata, and jambuls; the yellow greens arc chandaras Mecaranga roxburghii and kumbas Careya arborea; the greys are asans Uriedclia retusa, and umbars, or bare pahirs and nanas Lagerstroemia parviflora," and the browns are ruddy-tipped hirdas and helas Garcinia cambogea.]. Beyond the belt of bright-green forest, the hillsides, grey with leafless trees, fall to bare flat-topped spurs with Dhangar huts and patches of tillage. From the east side of Garbat hill, with many ups and downs, the path crosses a bare rocky hillside under a tree-crowned hill-top. A little further the point shrinks into a narrow open neck with clusters of bushes and trees. Beyond the neck it again broadens, and, for about a mile, runs round a rising slope thick strewn with small black boulders, with patches of underwood and well-grown jumbuls and russet varus trees. From a bank crowned with bushes and large weather-beaten trees, the point slopes to the south bare and boulder-strewn, narrowing to a smooth ledge of hare gravel. To the east the point falls in a steep cliff, below which the hillside, scarred with ravines and treeless except in a few hollows, stretches in long flat-topped spurs far across the plain. To the south, some hundred feet below the level of the point, a narrow flat tongue of rock runs south rising into the peak of Sondai. On the west of Garbat point this ledge or plateau runs for some distance slightly wooded and with patches of tillage. Beyond the plateau the hill-side falls into the Khatvan ravine, and again rises in the bare steep slopes and cliffs of Alexander Point and Little Cauk, to the hill-top whose thick woods are broken by a few house roofs and lines of thatched huts. The exposed western crest of Garbat Point is at first rocky and bare. Then the path passes, across wind-swept glades and through sheltered dells, to the narrow neck that leads to the inner point, where it turns sharply down a steep slope, between beautifully wooded hanks, that rise, to the right in Garbat hill, and, to the left in the swelling crest of the main hill-top.

Alexander.

Alexander Point, a small cape or headland standing out from the eastern face of the main hill about half way between the top of the Khatvan ravine and Little Cauk Point takes its name from Captain Alexander who married a niece of Mr. Malet's, the founder of Matheran as a hill station. Leaving the main road about the seventh mile from Neral, the path sweeps south through a deep wooded dell to a bare flat bluff which commands a fine easterly view of Garbat Point and Sondai peak, and a westerly view of the cliffs that run south to Little Cauk, and at their feet the deep green of Ram Bagh or Ram's Garden.

Little Chauk.

Little Cauk, the bluff or bastion at the south-east end of the main hill, takes its name from the country town of Cauk, about five miles to the south. The road south to the Little Cauk, sheltered from south-west gales, is richly wooded with a deep dell on the left and a tree-covered crest on the right. The broad level path winds through smooth open glades fringed by clusters of well-grown trees and by large black boulders. Near the point the hill top flattens, the trees dwindle into bushes, and the ground is bare and covered with black rock. Like Great Cauk it commands a wide view of the rugged south.

Great Chauk.

Great Cauk the central of the three great bluffs that form the southern face of Matheran, takes its name from overlooking the country town of Cauk. From Little Cauk the path crosses a wooded hollow, and from this the broad rounded point of Great Cauk stretches south, at first wooded though flat, then bare, thick-strewn with small black boulders with one or two stunted mango trees and many dry leafless bushes. The point commands a wide view across the plain. Under the cliff stretches the deep green of the eastern Varosa forest. Beyond the forest, on a bare flat spur, cluster the thatched roof of Varosa, and about five miles across the plain, close to the deep green line of the Panvel high road, lies the country town of Cauk. Beyond Cauk the plain is broken by many ranges and spurs. To the right, beside the pinnacle of Visalgad and the more distant funnel rock of Karnala, are many ranges of flat-wooded hills, among them Mirya Dongar above Pen, and, further to the west, the Sagargad range in Alibag.

One-Tree Hill.

One Tree Hill, the most westerly of the three bluffs that form the south face of Matheran, takes its name from a large battered jdmbul tree that grows on its hollow top. West from Great Cauk the road runs close to the edge of the hill side, and the hill top to the right has much stunted brushwood and trees. The western crest of the hill, open to the south-west gales, is bare except a few weather-beaten bushes. From the crest a footpath leads down a steep slope to two large rounded masses of rock, the upper rock joined to the hill by a narrow neck, the lower separated by a deep-cut cleft. It is this lower rock which, from a large but lop-sided and wind-battered jdmbul, takes its English name of the OneTree Hill and its Marathi name of Jambul Point [ The people also call it the Stream-bed Kock, Nalichi Tekdi.]. The top of the rock, rising in a steep slope to its southwest edge, yields during the rains a crop of grass rich enough to tempt grass-cutters to climb its steep sides. From the upper rock are seen, close at hand, two of the western bastions of Cauk Point, and beyond them the flat massive rock of Louisa Point. Some hundred feet below stretches a wooded plateau, part of the Varosa forest, and, to the left, rises the great flat range of Prabal. Between Prabal and Louisa Point, close at hand, are the Vanja and Morpa hills, and in the distance the rugged crags of Tavli and Bava Malang.

Danger.

Danger Point, along the crest of the western Cauk cliff, gradually passing into deeper wood, a footpath strikes off the main road, and, keeping to the left, winds down a steep slope, across a rocky and bare hillside, with a few thickly-wooded dells. The open parts along the crest of the Cauk cliff command a view of the pillar of Visalgad to the south-west, and, to the west, of the steep bare sides of Prabal, with its flat tree-crowned top, ending in the north in a massive crag. In front is the small flat head of Danger Point, and, rising behind it, are the wooded crest and clean-cut cliffs of Louisa Point and the deep-wooded hollow of the hill-top above. From this the path winds through a sheltered wooded hollow and out along the edge of the cliff, with a backward view of the high scarp that runs south to One-Tree Hill overhanging the green belt of the west Varosa forest. After some sharp descents the path reaches Danger Point, a small bare terrace shaded by a few well-grown trees. To the north, Danger Point commands a fine view of the rocky scarp of Echo Point and of the green hill-top behind. Further to the west, stand the wooded crest, high cliff, and buttress-like rock of Louisa Point, and, between the point and Prabal, the valley of the Panvel river stretches to Bombay harbour. Beyond Danger Point the path sinks into the Pisarnath valley, passing on the right a deeply wooded bank in whose shade lies the shrine of Pisarnath, the guardian of Matheran.

Echo.

Echo Point. Crossing the Pisarnath valley the path winds through a thickly wooded hollow, to Echo point, a bare flat terrace with one or two stunted trees and dry leafless bushes [The trees are anjanis pisar and black-leaved makudis or wild limes; the bushes arc paptis]. On the right a black cliff rises to the richly wooded hill-top.

Landscape.

Beyond Echo Point the path winds through sheltered copse, and again strikes the lip of the scarp at Landscape Point a flat terrace, furnished with a seat, and commanding a fine view of Louisa Point and Prabal.

Louisa.

From Landscape Point the path winds through a richly wooded hollow up to the tree-crowned crest of Louisa point. This, the southern end of the smaller or western wing, takes its English name from the wife of Mr. Fawcett, of the Bombay Civil Service, who was Revenue Commissioner between 1855 and 1859. Its local name is Tapurici Sond or the Pillar Head from the short isolated buttress-like crag at its point. From the crest of Louisa Point the path stretches south-west, at first under a well-wooded knoll, and then along a plateau with fewer and more stunted trees to a bare smooth table of rock. To the left is the scarp of Echo Point, and, in front, Cauk cliff stretches as One Tree Hill. To the south-west stands the solitary peak of Visalgad, and on the west, lies the straight flat mass of Prabal with its broken northern crag. Joined to Louisa Point by a short neck is a large rock or crag with a fine northerly view over the parttilled plateau of Hasa and the lower peaks of Vanja and Morpa across the plain to the Bava Malang range, the slopes of Nakhind to the right, the comb-like crest of Canderi and the rocky pinnacles of Mhas-Mal and Navara-Navari in the centre, and to the left the wild outlines of Tavli and the Cathedral Rocks.

Porcupine.

Porcupine Point, the north end of the western wing or hill ridge, probably takes its name because it was formely a resort of porcupines; though, according to one account, its long thick snout and ragged bushes, like the quills of the fretful porcupine, suggested the name. The people call it Palki Point, mistaking its English name, or Maldungaci Sond that is Maldunga Point. After leaving the richly wooded hollow at the top of Louisa Point, the path skirts the western face of the hill, across glades and through belts of evergreen trees and brushwood [Chiefly jambuls, karvands, Bombas, kumblas, pisas, and mangoes.]. To the left a bare hillside, with an undergrowth of leafless bushes, falls some hundred feet to an evergreen terrace, part of the Maldunga forest. From a group of large anjani and varas trees the point slopes north in a long narrow ledge. To the west, over the cliff, is a fine view of the Maldunga forest deep-green or opening into withered glades. To the right is the richly wooded ravine of Maldunga, in which is hidden Malet's Spring or Tipaci Pani. Above the ravine the hill-top is nearly flat and deeply wooded. To the east stretches the Governor's Hill, the long crest of Panorama Point, and the tops of the Bava Malahg range, the flat rock of Peb, the gentle slopes of Nakhind, the sharp crest of Canderi, the small pinnacles of Mhas-Mal and 'Navara-Navari, and the rugged forms of Tavli and Bava Malang. Beyond the point after crossing some bare ground, the path leads along a hollow hillside through deep evergreen groves thick with fresh underwood and climbing trees [ The chief trees are kumbas, chandaleshvars, hirdas, bombas, phansis, and kumblas; the underwood chiefly vaitis; the climbers vatolis.], to the wooded neck that joins the western spur to the main hill, through a damp dell known as the Randaca Tal or Buffalo's Hollow, adorned by some large straight-stemmed jambuls and mangoes. Further on, to the left, paths lead to Malet's and Ponsonby's Springs, while the main road passes the Gymkhana to Monkey Point, a small ledge of rock above Hart Point, with a fine view of the long cliff of Porcupine, Prabal, the Bava Malang range, the Panorama spur, and the wooded slopes about Hart Point.

Geology.

Matheran is a mass of even trap-flows capped by a layer of laterite or iron clay. Most geologists hold that it was once an island in the sea that cleared the wall of the Sahyadris and washed away the Konkan lowlands. The crabs and shells that are still found on the hill-top support this view, and, in the beginning of the rains, when the valleys are full of mist, the white wool-like clouds, passing into the roots of the hill, leave the points standing like wave worn capes, and the valleys rounded in the sickle sweep of a sea beach. But in cloudless weather the stream-worn ravines, the torrent-seamed hill-sides, the points washed into narrow necks and pillar-like crags, the plateaus crowded with masses of fallen rock, and, after heavy rain, the thundering roar of landslips, seem to show that the worn and ragged form of the hill is chiefly due to the fierce buffeting of the blasts and torrents of the south-west monsoon.

The capping of highly porous and absorbent laterite or iron clay lies like a huge sponge on the top of the trap. The laterite rock occurs in many forms. Fresh cut, as in sinking a well, it is soft and yielding, with layers of bright magnetic iron ore still unmixed with clay. When the iron is being oxydized, the structure is tubular [Mr. Foote gives the following detailed description of a bed of tubular ironclay found on the top of Valabgad fort in west Belgaum. Instead of showing the ordinary horizontal or nearly horizontal vesicular cavities the summit bed is permeated by vertical tubuli running nearly through it. The upper ends of these tubuli are empty for a little distance, giving the surface a pitted appearance, but the tubes are generally filled with litho-margic clay, and have their walls lined with a glaze very like that so frequently met with in the vermicular hollows of ordinary laterites. The tubuli vary in diameter from ¼ to ¾ of an inch, but are generally less than half an inch across. Their height depends upon the thickness of the bed and the glazed sides show much statactitoid waviness of surface. In the lower parts of the bed the tubuli are less distinct. There can be little doubt that the formation of these tubes is due to the action of percolating water. This structure is not so commonly met with as the rudely-bedded quasi-stratified forms in which the vesicular and vermicular cavities are rather horizontally disposed. Mem. Geol. Survey, XII.pt. 1, 207.], and, when chemical action has ceased, the boulders have a hard polished surface and flinty texture [ The latrine or iron-clay that is found overlying the traps in Ratnagiri, Thana and the Deccan, is of two kinds, a sedimentary rock formed either in lakes or under the sea, and a rock that appears as the summit bed of trap hills, itself a trap, changed and decomposed by the action of the air. To distinguish between these two classes of rock, Mr. Foote has proposed that the sedimentary rock should be called laterite and the upper decomposed trap iron-clay. The laterite, or pluviatile rock is much less common and less widespread. It is found only in some lowlying tracts in Ratnagiri and in places in the Deccan which probably were once the bottoms of lakes. The rock that caps the Ratnagiri hills, and forms the summit bed of Matheran and of the Sahyadri and other Deccan hills, is iron-clay formed from trap by the action of the air. Mr Foote gives the following details of sections in the roads through the Amboli and Phonda passes in Ratnagiri. The basaltic rocks graduate into a moderately hard yellowish brown or brown earthy mass which closes many nuclei of the original rocks in various stages of decomposition. The upper parts of the decomposed mass, from which the nuclei have disappeared, have undergone a process of concretional solidifications from the infiltration of surface waters holding iron in solution and are assuming the ordinary lateritoid appearance and reddish colour Mem. Geol. Survey, XII. pt. I, 202.]. The terraces below the scarp are strewn with red laterite boulders, some with sharp clear-cut corners, others weathered, and rounded. The debris is in places over sixty feet deep, and, among it, are blocks of columnar basalt with corners as sharp and faces as smooth as when they took form. The laterite seems formerly to have been worked for iron, and so strongly is the rock charged with iron that a few chips of jambul wood turn the water of some of the springs black as ink. Under the capping of iron clay the hill is a mass of flows of trap, laid layer upon layer, some layers only a few feet thick, others forming high cliffs, all of them flat and even, not only in the different parts of Matheran, but with the sides of Prabal and other more distant hills. The trap though in places columnar is usually plain. Its structure is more or less amygdaloidal and in the hollows are minerals of the zoolite family. Of these apophyllite, which is perhaps the most common, when exposed by blasting, shows crystals of great beauty. Heulandite, mesotype, stilite, and natrolite as well as the crystals of quartz from which Garbat takes its name, are common. The trap weathers into soil that gathers at the foot of the different layers, sometimes in narrow ledges fit only for the growth of grass, in other places in rich plateaus bearing the largest trees.

The Terrace.

Besides the beauty of the hill-top and of its views, a great charm in Matheran is the plateau or terrace that almost encircles the hill from two to three hundred feet below its crest. This belt has a rich soil yearly freshened by mould swept from the hill-top. In parts it lies broad and open, dotted with mango and jambul trees, and with some fields of rice or nagli round a hamlet of Thakur or Dhangar huts. Again it shrinks to a rocky path, or, at open wind-swept corners, yields only thickets of rough brambles or ragged buffeted fig bushes. But in many coves of the baylike valleys, sheltered by cliffs, from the blasts of the north-east and south-west gales, are groves of ancient evergreen trees whose stems rise straight and high, and whose small-leaved distant shade, letting in air and light, fosters the growth of evergreen brushwood and, near springs and in damp dingles, nourishes patches of grass and tufts of fern.

Forests.

The chief forests in the main terrace are, in the north-east below Panorama Point and the Governor's hill, the wild-Palm Grove or Mad Rai ; further south below Garbat hill the Bekri Forest; to the east of Little Cauk, Ram Bagh or Ram's Garden, also known as the Primeval Forest; to the south of Great Cauk, the east Varosa Forest, and to the west of One-Tree Hill the west Varosa Forest; to the west of Porcupine Point the Maldunga Forest; and between Porcupine and Hart point the Black or Kala Forest; all these woods are evergreen. The varied tints of dark, bluish, bright, and yellow green are softened, during the dry months, by a grey mist of leafless or russet tree-tops, and brightened, towards the close of the hot-weather, by brown, pink, and golden tips that are ready to burst into leaf at the first fall of rain [ The dark greens are chiefly mangoes, kumbals, anjanis, and some jambul the bluish greens chiefly pisas, aptas, and some jambuls; the light greens chiefly suirs; the green-greys, asars and umbars; the leafless greys, nanas, pahirs, and some varas; the russet or withered browns chiefly varus; the brown, pink and yellow tips chiefly helas, koshims and pahirs.].

The general features of most of these groves resemble those of the Mad Rai, or Wild-Palm Grove, which covers the plateau that stretches, from one of the zigzags on the main road about four and a half miles from Neral, northwards under the steep wooded crest of Governor's Hill and Panorama Point. From the road the path enters the forest near its eastern limit, and passing north for some hundred yards, climbs a steep thick-wooded bank to an upper terrace which stretches to the end of Panorama Point. The ground is rocky, bare of grass, and thickly strewn with leaves. There is much underwood, some fresh and green hut most either leafless or withered into yellow or brown. In the outskirts, the trees though close together, are small and stunted. Deeper in rise some straight unbroken jambul and mango stems, and one huge fig tree about fifty-two feet in girth. In another dell, where the ground is thick with green underwood, is a grove of large jambul and fig trees, interlaced by festoons of the great climbing kandvel, whose trunks, twisted like the coils of a huge serpent, are drawn to the tree tops and fall in straight heavy sprays with scattered deep-green leaves. Beyond this dell the wood is again thinner, with open plots and glades fringed by thickets of bright-green brushwood, overtopped by dark-green, blue-green, and grey-green trees, and a sprinkling of bare leafless branches [The bright green-bushes are bokhadas, gelas and karands. The dark-green trees are alus, mangoes, and jambuls; the bluish-green are pisas, aptas, and climbing vatolis ; the greyish-green are umbars and asans; and the leafless branches belong to varas, pahirs, and nanas.]. To the right the deep fringe of the wood hides the hill slopes, and, on the left, a steep wooded bank rises to the overhanging tree-crowned crest of Governor's Hill. The path, climbing the steep wooded bank, leads to an upper plateau, where, in rocky deep-soiled ground with thick green underwood, among large mangoes, jambuls, and umbars, rise the slender ringed stems of the wild palm with its long hanging seed tassels, and its leaves standing in long spikes or falling in large black ribbon-like tatters. Beyond this the grove narrows and dwindles till it ends under Panorama Point.

Streams,

The hillsides of Matheran are scarred by small streams which, though dry during most of the year, bear in their clean-swept rocky channels traces of the strength of their monsoon floods. The west-marked Pisarnath drains the central section of the hill along a well-marked cup-shaped valley, which slopes about 400 feet from the church plateau on the north and the Cauk plateau on the south. To a less extent the hill-top is hollowed by the gathering ground of the Dhodambydce pani, or Waterfall Stream, between Panorama Point and the main hill; by the drainage that centres in the Malet Springs east of Porcupine Point; and by the Varosa Streams that run between Louisa and Landscape points. With these exceptions none of the streams drain any considerable section of the hill-top. The course of all is much alike. Gathering the drainage of a small section of the hill-top they either fall with one or two clear leaps, or by a long rapid rush force their way through boulders and shingle from the edge of the cliff to the lower slopes, and, winding among the spurs at the hill-foot, find their way into one of the main lines of drainage east to the Ulhas, south to the Patalganga, or west to the Panvel river.

Starting from the north and working eastwards, the chief of these streams are the Neral Water, Neralace Pani, which rises below the Governor's Hill and passing east and then north along the ravine between Panorama Point and the Neral spur, falls into the Ulhas a little to the west of Neral. The Bekri Stream, Bekrica odha, from below Garbat hill, passes east through the Bekri forest, and, entering the plain to the south of the Neral spur, flows east to the Ulhas. The Sondai or Khatvan Stream, Sondai Odha or Khatvan Odha, between Garbat and Alexander points, fed by a large share of the hill drainage, flows south along the chief of the Matheran valleys, past the town of Cauk into the Patalganga. The Little Khatvan between Alexander point and Little Cauk, after a steep south-easterly course, joins the main Khatvan under Garbat point. The Borganv Stream, Borgdnv-Odha, between Little and Big Cauk, meeting the Khatvan water, flows by Cauk town south into the Patalganga. A little to the west, between Great Cauk and the One-Tree Hill, the Varosa Stream, up whose narrow rocky bed the Cauk path struggles, runs south adjoining the Borganv and Khatvan waters, passes Cauk and falls into the Patalganga. Between Danger and Echo Points, draining the thickly wooded central hollow of the hill-top between the Church plateau on the north and Cauk plateau on the south, the Pisarnath or Bunk Stream flows west over the cliff into the Varosa river which runs south to Cauk and the Patalganga. In 1850 the Pisarnath flowed throughout the year with a considerable stream; but. for some years past, apparently from the increase of trees and brushwood on its gathering ground, it has almost ceased to flow before the beginning of the hot weather. In the corner between Echo and Louisa points, two nameless streams drain the sloping hill-top and fall over the cliff, passing west to the main stream that, draining the valley between Matheran and Prabal, flows south by Cauk to the Patalganga. Between Porcupine and Hart Point, a large area of the western hill-top and of the low neck between the central and western hill belts, drains into the stream, known either as Pipdce Pani (Odhd), the Tub Water Stream, or as Maldungaci Nadi, the Malduhga River. This flows to the northwest and then turns west to the Panvel river. Further to the east the stream that drains the hollow between the Governor's Hill and Hart Point, one of the Malduhga streams which is known as the Dhodambyace Pdni or the Waterfall Stream,-passes west into the Panvel river, through the deep-wooded valley in which are the Simpson reservoir and the remains of the ruined Elphinstone lake.

Water-supply.

In spite of the rainfall of about 200 inches even the largest streams cease to flow soon after Christmas. This is due partly to the porous iron-clay and partly to the dense growth of timber and brushwood that covers almost the whole hill-top. In 1850, as has been noticed above, before the trees and brushwood were preserved, the Bund or Pisarnath stream, which now barely trickles during the hot months, flowed freely even in May, discharging from the cliff a stream of water over a foot wide and three or four inches deep [ Smith's Matheran, 2, 11. Dr. Smith's quotations seem to prove that the free growth of trees in the gathering ground of springs exhausts their supply of water.]. Of eleven springs only two, Harrison's on the east and Malet's on the west of the main hill-top, last throughout the year. Beginning from the north and working east, in the hollow above Simpson's reservoir, near the old Dhangar settlement, is a spring known as the Phansi or Jack-Tree Water.

springs.

On the outskirts of the Wild-Palm grove under Governor's Hill, a few hundred yards from the road, is a spring which, by a grant from a Mr. Bamanji, has been turned into a rock-cut cistern with a flat boarded covering. It is known as the Black Water or Kale Pani, and, till the middle of the hot weather, supplied the stand-pipe on the roadside close to the fourth mile from Neral. On the south of the neck that joins the eastern and the central belt of hill, close to the beginning of Garbat point, are two springs. About half a mile further, near the sixth mile to the left of the Market road, is Harrison's Spring which yields water throughout the year or at least till the middle of May. It has a cistern which was built in 1864-65 at a cost of Rs. 2,876. Not far off, another spring, in the market to the left of the police lines, has a cistern which was built in 1865-66 at a cost of Rs. 1,322. The south hill has three springs, one to the south and one to the north of the Sanatorium, and a third on the south slope of the Pisarnath valley. At the spring to the south of the Sanatorium a cistern was built in 1865-66 at a cost of Rs. 1,225. Further north there are three springs in the ravine between Porcupine and Hart points, Malet spring or Tipace pani, at the head of the main ravine Ponsonby Spring or Ghaterice Pani, that is the Buffaloes' Drinking Trough, about a quarter of a mile to the north, and Robert's Spring close to Hart Point. Of these the chief are the Malet Spring, in the bed of the Maldunga, about 300 feet down a steep winding path. The water of the main spring is held in a rock-cut cistern roofed by iron sheeting and there are two smaller springs close by. The Malet Spring has never been known to fail.

Ponds.

For [ Contributed by Mr. F. B. Maclaran, C. E. for the old edition.] the storage of water seven reservoirs have been made, two of which have proved failures. The chief site is in the Pisarnath valley, where, in April and May 1857, Mr. West, C. E., built two dams at a cost of Rs. 3,975. The third dam in the same valley was built in 1857-58 by General Fuller, R. E., at a cost of Rs. 5,330; it was subsequently in 1866-67 raised three feet at a further cost of Rs. 1,156. These dams are all of masonry and are provided with sluice gates, which are removed at the beginning of the rains and are re-fixed in the month of November so that every monsoon the reservoirs are thoroughly flushed, and fresh supply of pure water gathered.

In 1858, to provide water for the residents at the north-east or Garbat end of the hill, Lord Elphinstone, the then Governor of Bombay, conceived the idea of constructing an earthen dam in the valley between Hart point and Panorama hill. The work was designed and carried out by the Public Works Department.

In 1873-74, as the Garbat end of the hill still suffered from want of water, it was decided to build a masonry dam on a rock foundation at a point a little below Colonel Fife's dam. The reservoir so formed, which was suggested by and bears the name of Dr. Simpson, the Superintendent, was begun in 1875 and completed in 1876 at a cost of Rs. 16,260. In spite of its distance from the more thickly peopled part of the hill, this reservoir has proved of great: service. The bed of the stream below the dam has been set apart for washing clothes, the quantity of water impounded being more than enough for this and other purposes. This is a great convenience to residents and visitors, as formerly during April and May, washermen had to take clothes to the Ulhas river near Neral. The capacity of this reservoir, which was designed and built by Colonel Maunsell, R. E., Executive Engineer, North Konkan, is 416,400 cubic feet.

Prior to the installation of the water taps in 1927, water used to be supplied in Pakhals from small tanks constructed at the sites of natural springs. When gradually Matheran attracted increasing number of visitors followed by big and petty tradesmen to cater to their demands, the supply of water fell short to meet the total need. A fresh lake was constructed in the Pisarnath Valley, to make good the shortage and named after Mrs. Charlotte Fuller, the wife of General Fuller, R. E. The site of the dam was suggested by General Fuller in 1857 and in 1880. The work of enlarging the dam was undertaken in 1950 and completed in 1956 with the total cost of Rs. 3,95,000. The total height of the dam at present is 50', its breadth being half a furlong. Settling tanks are situated at the highest of the hill near Rugby Park. The water is pumped, settled and supplied to the town through pipes. The dams are all of masonry and are provided with sluice gates, which are removed at the beginning of the rains and re-fixed in the month of September so that every monsoon the reservoirs are thoroughly flushed and supply of fresh and pure water is guaranteed.

Climate.

The porous capping of iron-clay, which has made the watersupply of the hill so scanty and so hard to improve, has, at all times of the year, in spite of the heavy rainfall, ensured for Matheran freedom from malaria. There is no marsh on any part of the hill and every stream bed is a bare rock. All material for malaria is yearly swept away, and, in almost all seasons, the thickest of the hill-top forests can be entered without risk. The grass or woodcutters do not suffer from fever, and, where fever has occurred, it has been due to dirt, not to damp. A fit of ague may be caught among the clefts of the rocks, but there is no danger in open places where the air moves. It is this freedom from malaria that makes Matheran so healthy a change to visitors. Children, especially, soon lose the pasty flabbiness they have brought with them from the plains. For the weakness caused by the rainy season in Bombay and for all mental or bodily complaints that healthy exercise and a pleasant life can relieve, Matheran has a healing power. In severe and complex ailments its influence fails.

For some time after the rains are over (October-November) the climate is pleasant. But, as the cold weather advances and the dry north-east winds grow stronger, the climate is much like the Deccan climate, and is neither pleasant nor healthy for those who have suffered from fever or from congested liver. In March and April, though the mornings and evenings continue cool and a hot night is unusual, the midday heat is oppressive. This lasts till, early, in May, specks of fleecy mist in the Pisarnath valley show that a moist air has set in from the sea. From this time, as the sea breeze freshens and the air grows moister and cooler, the climate becomes more and more pleasant, till, in the end of May, thunderstorms gathering from the Deccan, drench the hill, and the season is over. Though the first heavy rain drives away most visitors, those who can stay and are well housed, may, in spite of the wetness of the paths and the want of amusement, enjoy a fortnight or even three weeks of fresh hearty weather even when it rains, and, between the bursts of rain, bright cool days of great beauty. After two or three showers the views gain greatly in softness and colour. The hill tops are clear and purple, the grey leafless woods of the lower slopes become tipped with pink, gold, and light green, and the bushes throw out tufts of pink and purple and sprays of scarlet and gold [. The pahir, ficus cordifolia, is tipped with pink and gold, and the suir and mogri with light green, the ranbhendi bursts into tufts of bright purple, the mhaura patches of pink, and the koshim in sprays of scarlet and gold.]. The baked white and black hillsides soften into greys and browns, and a sudden greening passes over the warm rich plains. Even after heavy rain, in fair days in July and August, the hill-top is pleasant, the paths are firm and tidy, not sodden with damp or overgrown with rank grass or underwood.

The great event of the year is the breaking of the south-west monsoon. Some years the rains come in by stealth. Gentle showers and light mists grow rawer and fiercer till the damp and discomfort drive visitors away. But, as a rule, the hot-weather ends with great thunderstorms [ In the afternoon of Monday, June 6th 1865, sullen thunder began in the north-west, where clouds had all day been gathering in towering piles. As they thundered the clouds moved slowly down across the north Konkan, and. about four o'clock gathered against the jagged crest of Bava Malang. To the north, and all along the Bava Malang range, the sky and land were filled with lurid clouds, thunder, lightning, and rain, the Kalyan river flowing black as ink through a scene of the most striking desolation and gloom. South of this abrupt line of storm, the country from Bombay to Khandala was full of pure calm light. Every village, every hut, every road and forest-track, even the bridgeover the river at Chauk, came clearly into view. The trees and groves looked magically green; and the light picked out the most hidden streams and burnished them into threads of molten silver. The Panvel and Nagothana rivers shone like mirrors, and the sea was scored with bars of vivid sunshine. Suddenly, at about five, the storm-rack poured over Bava Malang like a tumultuous sea, and swept into the deep valley between Matheran. and Prabal, with furious blasts and torrents, awful thunder, and flashes of forked lightning. When the clouds had filled the valley the rain and wind ceased and the storm stood still, and, in dead stillness, the thunder and lightning raged without ceasing for an hour. The thunder mostly rolled from end to end of the valley, but it sometimes burst with a crash fit to loosen the bonds of the hills. At six o'clock the storm again moved and passed slowly south over Prabal towards Nagothana, and stream grew strangely clear, the rain-filled rice-fields and rivers flashed like steel, while fleecy clouds lay on every hillock and slowly crept up every ravine. As the sun set behind Bombay the air was filled with soft golden light. Westward towards Thana the hilltops were bright with every hue from golden light to deep purple shadow, while among them, the winding Ulhas shone like links of burnished gold. Then, the moon rose, brightened the mists which had gathered out of the ravines and off the hills, and cleared a way across the calm heavens, while far in the south the black embattled storm-rack belched flame and thunder the whole night long.

The next day (Tuesday) passed without a storm. On Wednesday, the 8th, eastward towards Khandala vast electric cloud banks began to gather. At two in the afternoon, with mutterings of thunder, the sky grew suddenly black and lurid. At half-past two the storm passed west moving straight on Matheran. A mist went before the storm, thickening as it came, first into trailing clouds and then into dripping rain, with muttering thunder all the while. At three the valley between Matheran and Prabal was filled with the storm. Thunder rolled in long echoing peals, and flashes lightened the dense fog with extraordinary splendour. The fog lasted with heavy rain till 3-45, when a light wind swept it west towards Bombay, where, about four, the monsoon burst.

These appalling electric outbursts end serenely. The storm clouds retreat like a drove of bellowing bulls and their last echoes die beyond the distant hills. The sun shines again in majesty, in every dell the delicious sound of running water wakens life, and the woods are vocal with the glad song of birds. [From the Overland Mail, January 16, 1880, p. 17. ]] from the east.

Rainfall.

The rainfall returns for the last ten years (1948-57) show a yearly rainfall varying from 182.6 inches in 1951 to 300.8 inches in 1956, averaging 241.7 inches.

The details for these years also show that on an average, the rainfall in January, February, March and April is less than an inch; that it rises to 1.22 inches in May; to about 26 in June; and that it is at its highest, 75, in July; it falls to 59 inches in August, about 30 inches in September and is reduced to 6 inches in October. During November and December the rainfall on an average is less than an inch.

The statement on page 873 gives the details of rainfall during 1948-1957.

The Superintendent of Matheran is the administrative officer in charge of the Hill Station. The other public offices are the police station, post and telegraph office, telephone exchange, forester's office, public works depot, the municipal office, etc.

Municipality.

The Matheran Municipality was established in the year 1905. It is entrusted with the water-supply, maintenance and construction of roads, road lighting, sanitation, medical facilities, etc. The municipal income is chiefly derived from water charges, octroi, house tax, visitor's tax, etc. The total road length within the municipal limits was 34 miles in 1961. The average annual income and expenditure of the municipality was about Rs. 1,90,000 and Rs. 1,85,000, respectively.

MATHERAN RAINFALL (1948-1957).

MATHERAX TEMPERATURE (1951-1959).

Gardening and Flowers.

Except on the flat tops of some of the lower spurs no grain is grown. The cost of bringing water limits gardening to the growth of geraniums, fuscians, heliotropes, and the commoner roses. English annuals should be sown soon after the rains are over, and almost all kinds including sweet peas do well. Fuscia and geranium cuttings can be grown on the hill, but in most gardens the plants have to be renewed every season. Heliotropes and the common roses thrive, but budded roses die from too much damp. Early in October the house roofs are gay with balsams and other flowering plants.

Vegetables.

Vegetable is grown in a small quantity near Charlotte lake but the bulk of supply continues to come from the surrounding lowlands. With the restricted supply of water, absence of tablelands and a favourable soil, vegetables which have only a seasonal: demand from the tourists remain one of the main items in which Matheran cannot attain self-sufficiency.

During both the seasons, April-June and October-November sack-loads of vegetables keep pouring in Matheran. The cost of bringing these articles up the hills naturally adds to their price which makes living on this hill station costly for the common man.

Grasses.

Among the plants [ These lists of plants and animals are condensed from the very interesting chapters in Dr. Smith's Matheran. They have had the advantage of revision by Dr. Lisboa, Mr. E. H. Aitken and Mr. G. W. Vidal, C. S., and of additions by Mr. W. Hart, Fiist Judge, Bombay Small Cause Court, and Mr. H. M. Birdwcod, C. S.] of the hill the commonest grasses are of the smaller kinds, Anthistiria cilliata, Uniola indica, Panicum mounta-num, P. trigonum and brizoides, Chloris barbata, hariali, Cynodon cactylon nacni, Eleusine egyptiaca, and a species of Apluda. Of the larger grasses there are the aromatic kashas, Andropogon muricatus, ginger-grass, Andropogon martini, Arundinella gigan-tea, and the Chirka, Coix lachryma. Bamboos are found on the lower slopes. They grow also on the top but probably only where they have been planted. The order Cyperaceao and the genus Calamus are also said to be represented on the lower slopes. On some marshy land, about a mile to the east of Neral station, is a grass, probably an Andropogon, whose leaves and roots give out a strong smell of turpentine.

Ferns.

During the rains ferns find a most congenial climate on and around the hill. They are at their best when there are no visitors, but they are still fresh in October, and, though shrivelled and dead-like in the dry months, uncoil their leaves with surprising promptness after the first heavy rain. The leading ferns are the common Brake, Pteris aquilina, which has almost disappeared from Garbat point, but is still found in considerable quantities on the south-east slopes of the hills near the top, a few feet below the road going from Alexander to Cauk point. The Climbing Fern, Lygodium flexuosum, is also frequently found in the woods on the hill sides and rarely on the top. Among less sparingly distributed species are the Sagenia coadunata, Pteris quadriaurita, Pteris pellucida, the Silver-fern Cheilanthes farinosa, and perhaps the Copper-fern cheilanthes dalhousiae; of Maiden-hairs, Adiantum lunulatum and caudatum, and A. capillus veneris, Poecilopteris virens, Nephrodium molle, Nephrolepis tuberosa, Athyrium felixfoemina, A. Hohenackerianum, A. falcatum, Asplenium planicaule, pleopeltis membranacea, and Pleopeltis nuda, Acrophorus immersus, Niphobolus adnascens, and Lygodium flexuosum, and the beautiful polybotrium vulgare. The last is very common in parts of the Sahyadris, but only a few specimens have been found at Matheran, in the Simpson reservoir valley not far from Hart Point.

Annual Herbs.

Of Annual Herbs there are, soon after the rains set in, the Cobra Lily, Arisaema murrayii, with its erect white or purplish cobra-like hood, and, of the Ginger tribe, the Curcuma pseudomontana, with yellow flowers and rose-coloured coma. Of Ground Orchids, which flower chiefly towards the close of the rains, there are the giant orchid Platauthera susannae, Habenaria longicalearata with several greenish-white flowers, the small white-flowered Habenaria Candida and the large rare Habenaria commelynifolia. Among Tree Orchids are the Eria braccata with its large white flowers that bloom early in the rains, Eria dalzelii a later bloomer, Dendrobia barbatulum and chlorops both of which flower in the cold weather, and the Erides maculosum with fleshy spotted leaves and in the rains a rose corolla freaked With purple. Of other Herbaceous. Plants there are the sunki Verbesina biflora, bhamburda Blumea holocerica, ganerd Ageratum conysoides, and bundar Vernonia divergens. Of Balsams, Impatiens tomentosa, kleinii, and the rare rivalis, which is supposed to be merely a variety of I, acaulis; two Cynoglossums, coelestinum and glochidiatum, not unlike forget-me-nots, but larger and more straggling; of Cucumbers the kadu. Cucumis trigonus and pubescens, whose, sulphur-yellow flowers wreathe the long karvi stems, and the koudel, Tricosanthes palmata, with large white-fringed corolla; of Convolvuluses there are Argyreia sericea, Ipomoea campanulata, Ipomoea sepiaria, Porana racemosa, and. Convolvulus arvensis.

Shrubs.

Of Shrubs and Brushwood there are the dhaura, Woodfordia floribunda, whose beautiful red flowers are used in the Punjab for dyeing silk, the alu Vanguiera edulis, anjani or ironwood Memecylon edule, arsul Canthium umbellatum, bahman Colebrookia ternata, bhoma Glochidion lanceolatum, dhinda Leea staphylea, dingal Crotalaria leschenaultii, ghagri Crotolaria retusa, eshvar Callicarpa cana, pangli Pogostemon purpuricaulis, geld Randia dumetorum, karavti Ficus heterophylla, karvand Carissa carandas, karvi Strobilanthes asperrimus, kiral or karipat Bergera koenigii, kuda Tabernoemontana crispa, limbara Heyneana trijuga, makadi Atalantia monophylla, mori Casearia loevigata, papati Pavetta indica, pisa Actinodaphne lanceolata, ramata Lasiosaiphon eriocephalus, and vahiti Aetheilema reniformis.

Trees.

Of Trees, there are, among those found only on the spurs and lower slopes, the gol Sponia wightia, the kaundal Sterculia urens, the mhaura Bassia latifolia, the teak sag Tectona grandis, the silk-cotton tree suir Salmalia malabarica, the bastard cinchona Hymenodictyon excelsum, the hill-palm berli mad Caryota urens, and the khair Acacia catechu. Among trees found only or almost entirely on the hill-top and upper slopes, are the chandara Macaranga roxburghii, the govinda Diospyros goindu, the gulum Machilus glaucescens, the kokam Garcinia purpurea, the kumbal Sapota tomentosa, laili Albizzia stipulata, the malia Diospyros nigricans, the phanas Artocarpus integrifolia, the phansi Carallia integerrima, the varas Heterophragma roxburghii. Among trees found in all parts of the hill, are the ain Terminalia glabra, the apta Bauhinia racemosa, the asan Briedelia retusa, the avail Phyllanthus emblica, the bava Cassia fistulla, the burumbi Amdora lawii, the goldar Sterculia guttata, the surungi Ochrocarpus longi-folius, the tawir Garcini ovalifolia, the hela Garcinia cambogea, the Hirda Terminalia chebula, the jambul Eugenia jambolanum, the pahir Ficus cordifolia, the karmal Dillenia pentagyna, the kosham Schleichera trijuga, the kumba Careya arborea, the mango amba Mangifera indica, the nana Lagerstroemia parvi-flora, the nandruk Ficus retusa, the pipal Ficus religiosa, the palas Butea frondosa, the pangardh Erythrina indica, the par-jambul Olea dioica, the umbar Ficus glomerata, and the sageri Bocagea dalzellii [ The tints of the Matheran woods are a pleasant study. Variety of season of age, of soil, and of light make it difficult to fix one tint for each kind of tree. The following are believed to be the chief hot-weather tints in the coppice of the open hill-top and in the terrace groves. The deep greens are anjanis, kumblas, makris most mangoes, some par jarnbuls, phanslis, polaras gulums, and tupas; the bright greens are alus, bokhadas, gelas, karavand bushes, and kusar, climbers; the brown greens are bombas, chandalas, eshvars, some jarnbuls, karapats, some umbars, and the parasitic bangol; the light yellowish greens are dharmans, kumbas, padals or lalais, piprans, young harkas, hirdas, koshims, and pahirs, bahman and some vaiti bushes, and shikakai and petkuli climbers; the blue greens are aptas, some jarnbuls, pisas, sisus, and rameta and voiti bushes; the ruddy tints are from young ahins, hirdas, koshimn, mhauras, mogiris pahirs, ranbendis, and helas withered bombash and kumbas, fresh dinda and withered davti bushes, and fresh hujari and handeva climbers ; the greys are from the leafless, stems and branches of kumbas, nanas, mogiris, pahirs, varas, and papti and rangoli bushes, and in the lower slopes teak and bors.].

Climbers.

Of Climbers and Creepers there are the ambulgi, Eloeagnus kologa with shining scaly tendrils and smooth-faced silvery-backed leaves; the cambarvel, Premna scandens, with large coarse wide-scattered leaves; the capvel, Canthium didymum, with polished leaves, white sweet-smelling flowers, and black fruit; the shikekai, Acacia concinna, with back-bent thorns, light feathery leaves, and little balls of yellowish flowers; the datir, Ficus volubilis; the kanvel, Ventilago madraspatana, with entire young leaves, serrated old leaves, long branches and leafless flowers in panicles; the kavli, Gymnema sylvestre, and some other milky shrubs; the kordor, Ancistrocladus heyneanus, with long tapering deep green leaves, which grows like a bush four or five feet before it begins to climb; the kulti, Tragia involucrata, an obscure little plant covered with sharp stinging hair; the kusar, Jasminum latifolium, one of the commonest climbers with delicate light-green pointed leaves, white fragrant flowers, and black berries; the lamtani, Anodendron paniculatum, with huge shining laureHike leaves and yellowish green flowers; the parol, Cyclea peltata, common on the trunks of trees with three-cornered leaves and culsters of cup-shaped flowers; the ragi, Mesoneurum cucullatum, with flowers in long stiff racemes and tufts of compressed seed vessels; the sweet pea. Vigna vexillata, universal after the rains and as fragrant as its namesake; the turan, Zyzyphus rugosa, thorny stems with rough leaves and a white mealy drupe; the vagati, Wagatea spicata, a climbing thorny shrub with orange and red flowers; the vakeri, Rourea santaloides, a rare plant with small shining leaflets not unlike sandalwood; the vatoli, Cocculus, macrocarpus one of the most marked plants in a Matheran thicket, with waving knotted and gnarled cable-like stems, sometimes bristling with thorns and hung with large bunches of grey-green or cream-coloured berries, ending among the tree tops, in patches of small butterfly-like blue leaves; the vukshi, Calycopteris floribunda, a coarse downy-leaved shrub with balls of faint green flowers; the yekyel, Dalbergia sympathetica, with strong hooks small acacia-like leaves, whitish flowers, and thin pods; and the yevti, Hippocratea grahamii, with smooth spreading branches and minute pale green flowers. The common Parasites, whose thick bunches of yellowish leaves are found clinging to the tree tops in all parts of the hill, and are called bandgols and bindkulis by the people, belong to the Loranthus family. The commonest variety is L. longiflorus; L. loniceroides, langeniferus, and perhaps elasticus are also found. None of these plants are peculiar to Matheran. Most are found in the plains and the rest are found in the other higher Thana peaks and ranges as well as on Matheran. Some plants of the orders Anonaceae and Guttiferae, which are very sensitive to cold, are found on Matheran, but not, as far as is known, on Mahabalesvar. Among these are Uvaria narum, Garcinia indica or purpurea, G. cambogia, G. ovalifolia, and Ochrocarpus longifolius the last identified from specimens, Briedelia retusa and Coculus macrocarpus, which are common on Matheran, do not occur on the top of Mahabalesvar.

Animals.

Among insects, of Coleoptera or Beetles, there are the clumsy buzzing Butocera rubra, a kind of Capricorn beetle, the equally large but darker Prionus orientalis, a large Scarabaeus, hundreds of humming Chafers, among them Anomala elata and two others; many Golden Beetles or Buprestidae, many Cetonias, handsome Cicindelidae, nimble Elaters or Click Beetles, long-snouted Curculios, rich-hued Cassidae, spotted Lady Birds, quaintly-armed Bombardiers, the curious little Paussidae with branching horn-like feelers, and the hair-tufted Hispa. Blister flies are common, and, after the first rainfall, the trees are aglow with fireflies. Of Diptera, the Nemocera, including gnats mosquitoes and tipulae, are nor very common; the Brachycera are more numerous; Anthrax, Bombylius, and other genera abound. Gadflies swarm and Flies Proper or Muscidae are found in vast numbers, among them are the violet-hued Sarcophaga, the Stomoxys, Musca, Calliphora, and many others. Of Hemiptera the black Cicada ducalis with its membranous leaves, wings and ear-splitting air-drum, the large clear-winged Cephaloxys locusta and Hacchys splendidula, and the opaque brown Ophona dives; of Pachycoridae the Scutellera nobilis and Callidea purpurea; of Asopidae the plain lazy-flying Canthecoma furcillata, and the rugged Caziera verrucosa; of Pentatomas, Placosternum taurus; two Raphigasters; many Mictidae, among them Physomerus calcar; Mictis lata, bovipes, dentipes, and punctum, and Dalader planiventris; of Coreidae Gonocerus lanciger; of Lygaeidas the scarlet lygaeus militaris; some bright red Pyrrhocoridae and many Reduvii. Of Orthoptera are several species of Acheta, among them probably the grotesque Acheta monstrosa, several varieties of Gryllus, the Mole Cricket Gryollotalpa vulgaris, the Common Locust, and the beautifully tinted Aedipoda citrina, Mantis religiosa and ocellaria, Blepharsi mendica, a large Phyllium, the huge Phasma maculicollis and perhaps the ruffle-jointed Empusa gongyloides. Of Neuroptera are the White Ants or Termites, the Dragon Flies or Libellulae, of which the large Ashna and a smaller Agarion are the most common, the Ant Lions including the large lace-winged Myrmeleo zebratus, the long-bodied brown-mottled Myrmeleo contrarius, and a smaller unnamed species, and of the vein-winged long-feelered and hairy-bodied Ascalaphi, A. accusans, segmentator, insimulans, and tessellatus.

Among Hymenoptera arc many species of ants, red, black, and russet. One small black and of the mason family builds very notable large helmet-shaped thatched nests generally in gele or kumbla trees. Of Pupivorae, some of which lay their eggs in the dwellings and others in the bodies of insects, are the stout bright green Stilbum splcndens, and a small green and yellow Chrysis. Other species with small earthen pipe nests, known to the people as the kumbharin or potter's wife, are the ashy and chocolate Sphex ferruginea, the small black and yellow banded Scolia, the large and black Scolia rubiginosa, the blue black-bodied fawn-winged Coeruleus, the black-bodied and yellow-winged Mygnimia perplexa, the green and black-bodied and yellow-winged Chlorien lobatum, the small yellow-winged Pelopaeus bengalensis, the black yellow-winged P. spinolae, and the large, black, yellow-winged P. coromandclicus. Of Wasps are the huge black-bodied Eumenes petiolata, and the black-yellow-spotted E. flavapicta. Of Honey Bees which yield excellent honey, are three kinds, the Apis indica and dorsalis, and a stingless bee. Of the heavy-flying solitary Xylocapae or Carpenter Bees, who build separate nests in decayed trees, are the light brown and yellow Xylocapae olivieri, the dark-bodied ashy-winged X. flavonigrescens, and the dark bluish-green ashy-winged X. tenuiscapa. Of other bees there are a prettily marked Anthidium, the blue-striped Crocisa decora, and Anthophora zonata with light grey wings, yellow shield-shaped thorax and black and green striped body not much larger than the honey-bee.

Among Butterflies the Lycaenidoe are represented by two leading species, Rosimon white or greyish-blue shining like silver, and Elianus milk-white bordered with brown, Roxus, Nila, Plinius, Cnepis, and Theophrastus are also found; of the Aphnoei, Etolus and Lohita; of the Pieridae, or whites and yellows, Callidryas hilaria, philippina, and alcmaene, and Pieris paulina, glaucippe, alibnia, phryne, and perhaps hecuba and mesentina; of the Papilios, the large slow-flying Papilio polymnestor, the large black and red-spotted P. romulus and P. Pammon with yellow dots and white patches, said to be the two sexes of the same species, P. polites with white and red crescents on the lower wings, P. agamemnon blotched with brown and green, P. epius blotched brown and yellow with rows of dots at the bases of the upper wings, blue eyes on the lower, and no tail; P. sarpedon, smaller than the others, with long black tapering forewings crossed by an irregular band of bluish-green, also P. hector; of the Danaidae, a very large and in some cases most beautiful family, the rich-hued Danais plexippus and chrysippus and the plain Euploea careta, the prettily streaked and black and white spotted Danais agloea and others, the richly marked and handsome curve-winged Precis iphita and Junonia asterias, limonias, aenone, and. orythia; two Diademas, misippus and bolina, as rich coloured as the Papilios. the common Ergolis ariadne, the black and white Athyma leucothoes, and Neptis acera. Of Nymphalidae there are a lovely leaf-like Kallima, Amathusia bernardi, Debis nilgiriensis, Charaxes athamus, Melanitis leda, Mycalesis polydecta, and Hypanis ilythia. Of hesperidae there are many. There are also Malanitis banksia, Eronia Valeria, Pyrgus superna and P. purendra, Arygynnis phalanta, Isemene aria, Yphthuna lysandra and baldus, Politia nina and others.

Among Moths are the Clear-wing Sesia hylas, the Death's head Acherontia styx, and the Sphinx convolvuli, the Chaerocampas clotho and celerio, and the Bombay Marble Hawk-moth Daphnis nerii; of the Castnii, Egocera maculata and two day moths Eusemia dentatrix and the Pale-blue transversa, commonly called the Matheran butterfly; and of the Zygaeridae the common black and white winged Syntoma bicineta. Many others have lately been identified. Among these, not elsewhere known, are Polytela gloriosa, Polydesma boarmoides, Macuglosca stellatarum, Aloa sipalki, and unnamed species of Micaria, Syntomis, and Lithosia. Among Night-moths the leading tribe are the Bombycites or Silk worms, of which the Lithosias are the most numerous and the Saturnias the largest. Among them are the curious buff and dark green Lithosia entella, Nyctemera alternans, Deiopleia syringa and pulchella, Spilosoma suffusa, Alope ocellifera, Candyba punctata, Ganisa postica, Attacus atlas, Saturnia mylitta the well-known tusser silk-moth and perhaps Actaeus silene. Of Noctuites the Peacock Moth. Patula macrops, the dull brown Argiva hieroglyphica, the dark-brown and blue Potomorpha manlia and the lighter hued Ophideres materna, the fawn-coloured Halodes carunca, the Ophusia properata, Lagoptera dotata, Achoea melicerta, and A. cyllota. Of Geometrites, Comiboena devexata, Eumalia rosalia, and the small Orsabana.

Between insects and reptiles several classes of animals may be roughly grouped. Among them are the active and vicious Leech of which Hirudo zeylanica is the commonest; Land-shells including two species of Helix found in heaps under the laterite ledges, a common trumpet-mouthed Cyclostoma, and a rather rare spiral Achatina; Land-crabs or Gecarcinae; Millipedes of the genus Iulus; bottle-brushlike Cermatias; Centipedes; Scorpions; and Spiders, including the large hairy Mygale, two or three Epeirae whose huge tough webs are hung with egg boxes, the Phrynnus, the small jumping Salticus, the Galeodes with its tunnelled web, the long Water-spider, and the skeleton-legged Phalangium.

Reptiles.

Of Reptiles there are, of Frogs, the Rana tigrina or Bull-frog, perhaps the smaller and darker Rana hexydactyla, the small and light coloured common frog, Rana gracilia, the Toad, Bufo melanostictus, and pale active and graceful Tree-frogs Hylorana malabarica and Polypedatis maculatus.

Of Lizards there are occasionally the large Lizard, Varanus dracoena, about four feet long and harmless in spite of its threatening look, and of smaller lizards, Skinks, Agames, and Geckos. The Skinks are in every veranda, the Agames bask in the sun on tree-trunks and bare rocks, and the Geckos keep mostly under cover. Of Skinks there are the timid Common Skink, Euprepes rufescens, about a foot long with shining scaly flattened back, the bare Eumeces punctatus dark grey with brown and white freckles, the smaller E. hardwickii brown above and white below with symmetrical black dots and yellowish white banks, and the very rare and very small Chiamela lineata. Of Geckos, whose six or eight measured notes are often heard at dusk and in the early morning, are the small common Hemidactylus maculatus, the much larger H. sykesii, and the curious squat reddish-olive Gymnodactylus deccanensis. Of Agames the large light-green Calotes versicolor, and on trees the blackish Galotes rouxii. The hill people mention the Chameleon and a Winged-lizard, or Draco, like that found in Kanara, but neither has yet been recorded.

Between Lizards and Snakes come the Blind worms of which there are three, the foot long bronze and yellow Onychocephalus acutus, the small brown Typhlops braminus, and the minute bluish T. exiguus.

Among Snakes, there are, of harmless snakes, the grass-green Tree Snake naneti or Basserita mycterizans, moving with uplifted long-snouted head, a vicious ready biter but with no poison fang. Another Tree Snake the Dipsas trigonata, brownish-olive and whitebellied, has a broad depressed head and rounded snout. There are also the Dipsas forsteni and ceylonensis, the large fangless Dhaman or Ptyas mucosus, some times seen eight feet long and thicker than a man's wrist, and perhaps the huge Python molurus often more than ten feet long. Of smaller harmless ground snakes there are the Tropidonotus plumbicolor, the brown and yellow spotted Oligodon fasciatus, the reddish olive Ablabes humberti, the Greyish olive whitebellied Cyclophis nasalis, the richly variegated Cynophis malabaricus, the stump-tailed Silybura macrolepis, and the very fierce brown white-barred Lycodon aulicus. Of poisonous snakes there are the Cobra, Naja tripudians, not so numerous as in the plains, the manyar Bungarus coeruleus, and the green Pit-viper, Trimeresurus gramineus, the greyish-brown ghonas, Daboia russellii, and the small Echis carinata.

Birds

Among Birds, there are, of Birds of Prey, the white-hacked Gyps bengalensis or gidh, the long-billed Gyps indicus, the Scavenger Vulture Neophron ginginianus, and the King Vulture Otogyps calvus. Of Falcons and Hawks there are the Shahin Falco peregrinator, the Bhiri Falco percgrinus a cold-weather visitant, the Laggar Falco juggcr, the little Kestrel Tinnunculus alaudarius, the Shikra, several Sparrow Hawks, and occasionally it is said the Goshawk. Of Eagles there are the wokhab or Tawny Eagle Aquila vindhiana, the Osprey Pandion haliaetus, and the White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaetus leucogaster. Of Harriers there are the Circus swainsonii, and of Kites the Pariah or chil Milvus govinda and the brahmani Haliastur indus. Owls are uncommon, but the Indian Screech Owl Strix javanica and the brown Hooting Wood-owl Syrnium indranee have been seen.

Among Insessores, of Swallows Martins and Swifts, there are, the English Swallow, Hirundo rustica, some times the Wire Tail Swallow Hirundo filifera, the Mosque Swallow Hirundo erythropygia, and the Dusky Crag Martin Ptyonoprogne concolor; and of Swifts some times the Cypselus affinis, and perhaps the Edible Nest Swiftlet, Collocalia unicolor. Of Goatsuckers, the peculiar melancholy wail of the Caprimulgus asiaticus is often heard. Bee-eaters, Rollers, and Kingfishers are rarely seen. Barbetrs and Cuckoos are common, the Common Green Barbet, Megaloema caniceps, the Copper-smith, Xantholema hoemacephala, and the Crow-pheasant, Centrococcyx rufipennis are found in all parts of the hill. Cuckoos, Paroquets, Magpies, and smaller birds, though common in the lower slopes seldom visit the hill-up. Of Sun Birds there are large numbers which flit from flower to flower or hover them like bees. Of Shrikes there are the Grey Shrike, Lanius lahtora, and the Common Wood Shrike, also the Drongos, Dicrurus coerulescens and longicaudatus, and of Minivets Pericrocotus brevirostris and perhaps flammeus. Of Fly catchers, are the Tchitrea paradisi or long-tailed Tyrant Bird and the black-naped blue Hypothymis azurea, the Fantail Leucocerca alibicollis, the Verditer Stoporala melanops, and the blue-throated Cyornis rubeculoides. Including Bulbuls and Babblers the Thrushes are the largest family of Matheran birds. Among them the Malabar Whistling Thrush or Lazy Schoolboy Myiophonus horsfieldii, and the smaller-spotted Wren Babbler Pellorneum rufficeps, the dull ashy Quaker Thrush Alcippe poiocephala, the olive-brown Scimitar Babbler Pomatorhinus horsfieldii, the dark Cyanocinelus syanus, and the rare pied Turdulus wardii. Of ground-thrushes are the white-winged Geocichla cyanotis, the rarer orange-headed G. citrina, and the blue-headed Petrophila cinclorhynchas, which, silent at other times, fills the April woods with song. Of the harsh-voiced common Babblers there are t\vo varieties Malacocercus malabaricus and M. somervillei. Among the pleasant voiced and numerous Bulbuls are the common red-whiskered Otocompsa fuscicaudatus, in October the Madras Bulbul Molpastes hoemorrhous, the beautiful black yellow and white Iora zeylonica, and probably the larger and duller-hued Iora tiphia. Akin to the thrushes, the gorgeous Orioles are represented by the bright yellow and black Mango-bird Oriolus kundoo. Among Warblers the dayal or Magpie robin is a rare visitant, and the little dusky Thamnobia, the Bush-robin Praticola caprata, and the Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius are commoner below than on the top of the hill. Wagtails are abundant, the grey and yellow Calobates melanope, the pied Motacilla maderaspatensis, and perhaps the black-faced M. dukhunensis. A brown Tree Pipit or Anthus and the Indian Grey Tit, Parus nipalensis, are also found. Of Conirostres are the common Crow Corvus macrorhynchus and splendens, the tree magpie Dendrocitta rufa, and many Mynas both the common myna and the more local Acridotheris marathensis. Of the Fringillidae the small pink-browed Rosefinch, Propasser rhodochrous, is perhaps occasionally seen as a straggler. The black-headed Munia is some times found in long grass, and the Indian Sparrow is seen though in no great numbers. Weaver Birds come singly, and the small Crested Lark, Spizalauda deva, is occasionally seen. Of Pigeons there are the Green, Crocopus chlorigaster, the Common, Columba intermedia, and perhaps the Imperial, Carpophaga insignis. Of Doves, the Spotted Dove Turtur suratensis is common and the little brown Cambay and the ashy Ring-dove T. risorius are rare. Game birds are disappearing. The handsome grey Jungle Fowl Gallus sonnerattii, formerly common and tame, is seldom seen; the Spur-fowl, Galloperdix spadiceus is heard all over the hill, and there are Bush and Button Quail.

Mammals.

As they are forced to leave it during the rainy months, few mammals are found on the hill top. Of Bats there are the small Scotophile that skims about the rooms in the evening, the larger open air Taphozous longimanus, the small pretty Kcriveula picta, and the large Fruit-eating Pteropus edwardsi, or Flying Fox. Of Rats and Mice there are the destructive Bandicoot, ghus, Mus bandicota, the light-coloured House-rat Mus rufescens, the Brownrat Mus decumanus, the Black-rat Mus rattus, the Mus urbanus, and other common Muridae. There is also a Musk-rat either the common Sorex coerulescens of the plains, or a hill species very like it and with the same smell. In the evenings Hares, probably Lepus nigricollis, are some times seen frisking about the glades. Of Squirrels there are three kinds, the red large Sciurus elphinstonei, the small striped Sciurus tristriatus, and a third longer and not striped, perhaps S. somacrourus. Porsupines, once known on the hill, have disappeared. Of Mungooses there are the Common Mungoose. Herpestes griseus, and a much larger one, perhaps H. Vitticollis. Of Cats there is the Wild Cat, Felis chaus, which has probably bred with the tame cat. Of Deer, the small Pisora, Memimna indica and the four horned antelope, Tetraceros quadricornis, formerly not uncommon, are no longer found, the sharp cry of the Muntjac or bekri, Cervulus aureus, is still often heard, and Sambar, Rusa aristototelis, are said to be some times seen crossing the lower slopes. Of Monkeys there are the grey black-faced Hanuman or Entellus monkey Presbytis entellus, and the smaller Macaque or Bonneted Monkey, Mecacus radiatus. Of larger animals Hyaenas and Jackals are not uncommon. Panthers, Felis pardus, both large and small frequently visit the hill, and the Tiger is occasionally seen. No Bears have been heard of for years.

Domestic Animals.

Besides cats and dogs the only domestic animals that remain on the hill throughout the year are cattle, cows and buffaloes, and a few goats in the Katkari hamlets near the hill-foot. Some sheep are brought in the fair season, but all are meant for the butcher, as sheep do not stand the chilly damp of the south-west monsoon. Several ponies are brought in the fair season, but all leave the hill soon after the beginning of the rains.

Visitors.

In recent times Matheran has become extremely popular as a holiday resort. Proximity to Bombay and Poona, a regular rail service and improvement in the amenities and above all, the facilities such as accommodation at reasonable cost in Government Camps have induced people from all parts of the State, and at times beyond, to visit the hill station. Though rather costsly for a common man it no longer remains a privilege of the few rich as was the case a few years before.

History.

As it was never either a stronghold or a place of religious resort, Matheran is almost entirely without a history. Nothing was known of Matheran till, in 1850, Mr. H. P. Malet, Collector of Thana, while camped at Cauk, strolled one evening half way up the hill by the narrow steep bed of the Varosa stream between Great Cauk and One Tree Hill. Thinking the hill worth exploring, he came back next day, took some water from the small stream that then, even in May, ran freely through the Pisarnath valley, filled a basket with earth, struck off some pieces of stone, and went back to Cauk through the Ram Bagh between Alexander's point and Little Cauk. He came again in November, lived about a month in a small hut, and cleared footpaths to several of the points. He came once more in February 1851, built a stone house now called the Byke [ Mr. E. G. Fawcett built the second house, the Hermitage; Captain Henry Barr the third; Captain C. Walker the fourth; and Mr. Arthur Malet the fifth, Stonehenge.], and, in 1852, obtained a grant of Rs. 500, and so improved the path from Cauk through the Ram Bagh forest that Mrs. Malet was able to come up seated in a chair fastened with ropes to bamboo poles. Shortly after this, Government ordered the Quarter Master General of the Army to have the hill surveyed with a view to make it a military sanatorium. The survey was carried out by Captain Ponsonby in 1852, who drew a map of the hill, laid out a road from the north to Neral, and marked sites for a church, a hospital, a barrack for two hundred men, a jail, and other public buildings. But idea of making Matheran a military sanatorium was given up as the medical authorities preferred Khandala. Next year (1853) Captain Peacock traced and cleared some fresh paths, and marked sites for private houses. When the survey was completed, a map of the hill was printed, and Government, after reserving certain plots, authorised Mr. Malet to allot sites to the public. By the end of May 1853 seventy sites had been applied for.

Between 1855 and 1858, Lord Elphinstone, then Governor of Bombay, did much for Matheran. At a cost of Rs. 10,000 the road from Neral, instead of climbing the steep valley, was brought up the gentle slope of the Neral spur. An embankment was thrown across the Maldunga stream below the modern Simpson reservoir, but was carried away in the first rains, and afterwards a double line of wall was built across the Pisarnath stream. Most of the rides and paths, leading to the different points, were laid out with admirable taste, under Lord Elphinstone's direction. He chose the site of Elphinstone Lodge, built a hut on it and laid the foundation of the present house. His staff followed his example and Matheran became fashionable. Houses rapidly sprang up and building sites were in great demand. The foundation of the Church was laid in 1858, and in three years the building was completed. Several additions, especially a fine window presented by Mr. Michael Scott, were afterwards made, and it was consecrated by Bishop Harding in 1885. A Superintendent's office, including a post and telegraph office and a small library, a new market, a sanatorium, and a rest-house for local residents had also been added, and Gymkhana, with several lawn tennis and badminton courts and a large badminton shed, added greatly to the pleasure of life on the hill.

The Season.

As a place of resort Matheran has two seasons, after the rains in October and November, and from the first of April to the middle of June. From the middle of October to near the end of November, the hill is fairly full, most of the rooms at the hotels and almost all of the houses are occupied. By the end of November all but a few families have left. After they leave, the hill remains nearly empty till the end of March. For the hot season (April 1st to June 15th) almost every house is occupied. Many families come early in April, but it is not till after the first week in May, that all the houses are occupied and the hotels crowded. This busy gay time lasts till the damp and mud of the first rains force many to leave the hill. A few well-housed Bombay people, to avoid the trying first fortnight in June, stay as late as the closure of the railway traffic enjoying the fine days that generally follow the first rainfall. There are quite a few instances of people who have returned from Mahabalesvar due to the sudden break of monsoon, and resorting to this station to continue their holiday making in a fine and clear weather, which Matheran provides for at least a fortnight hence. From this till the beginning of October the market remains closed, and except a few hotel-keepers, the hospital assistant, the head constable, a Public Works clerk, servants in charge of houses, and few shopkeepers, porters, and labourers, the hill is deserted.

Up to 1860 the hill-top was distributed as forest and grazing land [Of a total of 1,648 acres, 160 4/40 in the north-east belonged to Neral, 20 18/40 in the east to Bekri, 527 31/40 in the south-east to Sondaivada, 156 34/40 in the south to Borgaon, 537 31/40 in the west to Varosha, and 185 14/40 in the north to Maldunga.] among the villages at its foot.

Roads.

The road to the hill station stretches for about seven miles from Neral station to the post office. The levels show for the first mile a rise to 126.70 feet, for the second a rise to 555.89 feet, for the third to 975.38 feet, for the fourth to 1,525.07 feet. for the fifth to 2,138.94, for the sixth to 2,283.95 feet, for the seventh to 2,376.92 feet at the market, and from this a fall in the eighth mile to 2,109.30 feet in the Pisarnath or Bund Valley. This road is kept in good repair, and though unfit for carriages or carts, is in all places wide enough for two or three ponies to pass. The yearly road repairs cost about 18,000 rupees. On the hill-top, the two and a half miles to the Olympiea Hotel are fairly level and the road has a breadth of about twenty feet. This could easily be made fit for carriages and the drive could without difficulty be continued round Cauk Point. Besides the main road, there are about thirty-two miles of bridle paths varying in breadth, but always with room for two riders to meet. These lanes wind over the hill, with many ups and downs, and have the charm of being well-shaped, and, every now and again, of commanding views of the outlying points and of Prabal, Bava Malahg, and other high neighbouring hills. In some parts of the hill, as at Echo and Danger points, the path is so steep and runs so close to the cliff that it is seldom used by riders. Besides the main Neral road, the old Cauk road through Ram Bagh and the part-paved rock-cut stair up the ravine between Great Cauk and One Tree Hill, many tracts lead down the hillside. Several of these, though rough, are passable, but many are too steep and slippery to be used by any one but the barefooted hill-people.

Inception of railway in Matheran left no scope for palanquin bearers to continue with their occupation. All the passengers together with their luggages resorted to railway travel which became an additional attraction for visitors to Matheran. Consequently, they took to cart driving and working as guides on the hill-station.

The cart, 'Rikshaw' as it is locally known, is a two-seated carrier and resembles a tonga in the cities as far as its design is concerned. A person in front at the yoke pulls while one or two in the rear push driving the carrier briskly through narrow and shaded roads. The position of the seats is so arranged as to tilt them back to make the ride more comfortable, when the yoke is lifted chest high. Rs. 2 to Rs. 3 are charged per hour for a ride in rikshaw.

Horse-riding is one more point of peculiar interest at Matheran. About 200 horses are heavily engaged during the season and even the non-riders enjoy rides with the help of a guide. Apart from the exercise and pastime this game involves, it is perhaps the thrill in riding that makes people crazy about it. A charge for a good horse is Rs. 3 to Rs. 5 per hour and that of ponies is Rs. 1.50 to Rs. 2 per hour. Some of these horses are employed in carrying the daily requirements of the permanent residents in the rainy season when train service is suspended till September.

Water-Supply.

 In the initial stage of the development at Matheran, "Malet spring" the perennial water spring was the main source of water-supply. The water of the spring had digestive qualities and some visitors preferred drinking this to the tap water.

There are two main tanks (i) Charlotte Lake and (ii) Simpson Tank, whose water-supply is adequate to meet the need of the residents and the visitors. The water-supply from the Charlotte Lake reservoir is reserved purely for drinking purpose and household use. The Simpson Tank is utilised by washermen.

There is an Overseer of Water Works Division, Nasik, in charge of the pumping station at the Charlotte Lake. However, arrangements in regard to the supply of water are entrusted with the Municipality. The revenue collected therefrom is added to municipal funds. The services of the Overseer of the Water Supply Division, Nasik, are lent to the Municipality.

Objects,

 English Church.

The Church stands on one of the highest and most central sites on the hill, a little north of the Superintendent's residence. The foundation was laid in 1858, and, with the help of a Government grant, the Church was completed by private subscription in 1861 at a cost of Rs. 26,260 and consecrated by Bishop Harding in 1865. It has been made over to the Bishop of Bombay in trust for the residents of Matheran. It is a plain neat building, with seats for 130 persons, a richly painted window, the gift of the late Mr. Michael H. Scott, a stone font, and a harmonium, and is in all respects well and orderly appointed. To the east, in a hollow of the hill a little below the level of the church plateau, is the small European burying-ground.

Catholic Chapel.

The Catholic Chapel of the Holy Cross, situated near the Superintendent's office, was built soon after the hill was made a sanatorium (1852), consecrated in May 1858, and greatly improved in 1872, with seats for ninety people. It has a nave twenty-five feet long, fourteen broad, and eighteen high, aisles fifteen feet long, ten broad and 20¼ high, and a Chapel fifteen feet long, thirteen broad and 25½ high. Of resident parishioners there are not more than eight or ten, but the congregation increases in the October season to seventy or eighty, and, in the May season, to 125 or 150. To the south of the Chapel is the priest's dwelling.

Mosque.

On the left of the path that leads from the market road to the mutton market is a small and neat Mosque of laterite stone. It was built in the year 1872, chiefly from funds contributed by Messrs. Muhammad Ali Roge, Kamu Seth, and Rahim-at-ullah, three rich citizens of Bombay.

Temple.

On the north side of the market road, not many yards further north, is a small stone temple with a large red image of Maruti. The temple was built in 1874 from money subscribed by the people. The worshippers offer flowers and coconuts and burn camphor. Close to the Olympiea Hotel and Public Works Storehouse is a temple of Siva which was built in 1870. The only other Hindu shrine on the hill-top is the shrine of the Dhangar's god Pisarnath, in a thick grove on the south bank of the Pisarnath valley.

The temple of Pisarnath is an old stone temple and a prominent place of worship for the Hindus. The god is supposed to fulfil the wishes of the devotees who to commemorate the same decorate the temple with bells given as a gift so much so that not an empty space could be seen where the bells could be hung. Then a number of bells are placed outside the temple and it is said that they are never stolen. The God is worshipped by many but more prominently by Thakurs, Katkaris, Dhangars, Mahgs, Garudis, etc. Another Hindu temple is that of Rama, near the station built about 50 years ago. Many visitors to Matheran lodge in the temple.

Hill Top Walks.

 East Wing.

From Pinto's Hotel the leading points on the hill-top can be comfortably seen in three rides or walks. The first morning may be given to the eastern ridge or wing of hills, Panorama point and Governor's hill, Mount Burry hill and Garbat point. The details are: North along the Neral road nearly two miles to the neck that joins the eastern ridge to the body of the hill.; north about a mile and a half to the end of Panorama point; back on foot along the crest of Governor's hill, a mile and a half to the Neral toll; from the toll south round the east side of Garbat hill about a mile and a quarter to the end of Garbat point; and back by the west side two miles to the main hill a little to the south of the dry reservoir known as the Fife Filter; from this back a mile and a quarter to Pinto's; total about nine and a half miles.

Round chauk.

The next morning may be given to Alexander point on the east, Cauk and Danger points on the south, and the Pisarnath valley and Fuller lake on the west. The details are: Half a mile south-east to Alexander point, hack round the hollow at the top of little Khatvan valley half a mile, past the road to the Ram Bagh, south nearly a mile to Little Cauk, west round little Cauk, half a mile to Great Cauk, west round the top of the Varosa valley, a quarter of a mile to One Tree Hill, north half a mile to the Tata Convalescent Home, north by a footpath three-quarters of a mile to Danger point, north-east through the grove and past Pisarnath's shrine to the Pisarnath valley along the Charlotte Lake, and, up the valley, half a mile east to the Girivihar Hotel and half a mile north to Pinto's; total five miles.

West and North.

The afternoon of the same day, or of some future day, for it is an afternoon walk, may be spent in visiting the west and north-west, Echo, Landscape, Louisa, Porcupine, Monkey, and Hart Points, and the northern part of the crest of the hill. Pass west down the Pisarnath valley to the north of Fuller Lake, at the foot close to the dam turn north half a mile to Echo point and a quarter further to Landscape (this must be done on foot), a mile south-west along the low road through a wooded hollow to Louisa point, a quarter of a mile north along the crest of the point, to the left along the western cliff a mile north of Porcupine, north-east half a mile to Malet's springs, about half a mile down to the springs and back passing Ponsonby spring on the left which is worth a visit, half a mile north-east to the Gymkhana, north half a mile leaving Elphinstone lodge on the left past Craigie Burn to Monkey point, a quarter of a mile north to Hart point, three-quarters north-east to Simpson reservoir, down a steep track about half a mile to the reservoir and back, leaving the Market road on the left keep the crest of the hill above the Gymkhana one mile south to Artist point, and along the Bare Church Plateau a second mile south to Pinto's; total nine miles.

Half-Day Walks.

Besides to the points on the hill-top there are several walks, some of them easy half-day trips to the terraces on the hill-side, others heavier trips, most of them involving a climb down the Konkan plain, and some of them including a visit to one of the neighbouring hills. Of these walks thirteen may be noticed, seven of the shorter and six of the longer class. The seven short half-day walks are-

1. Down to the Ram Bagh wood round Catik and up the One Tree Hill; 2. Down Louisa Point and up Porcupine Point; 3. Round Louisa Point; 4. By Malet's Spring to Porcupine Point; 5. Round Panorama Point; 6. Round Alexander Point; and 7. Round Garbat Point [These trips have been contributed by Mr. W. Hart, First Judge, Bombay Small Cause Court.].

Ram Bagh.

1. Ram Bagh Wood to One Tree Hill. From the crest of the cliff a little south of Alexander point the path winds down a rough steep slope, between the rounded rocky brow of Alexander point and the sheer scarp that stretches south to Little Cauk. During the hot season, to the left, lightened by young trumpetshaped plantain leaves and golden tufted pahirs, a withered slope, grey with leafless branches, falls to a broad belt of evergreen forest, varying in tint from yellow and grey green, through bright green and blue,' to masses of deep green, and tufts of orange and brown [ The trees are yellow piprans, grey-green umbars and asans, bright-green jambuls and mangoes, bluish pisas and aptas, deep green tupas, gulums, and anjans, orange branches of the bangol parasite, ruddy tufts of young hirda and nana leaves, and bare grey heads of leafless varas, nanas and pipris.].

Beyond the forest, across the great Khatvan ravine, stands Garbat point and the long low spur that stretches south to Sondai peak. Behind this spur rise many flat isolated blocks of hill, and, in the distance, stretches the wall of the Sahyadris broken by the cleft of the Kusur pass. In the Ram Bagh, except the overhanging crag to the west, the view is bounded on all sides by rich leafage. Raspberry-like underwood hides great mosscovered boulders, from which bonda and mango stems rise in branchless columns over fifty feet high and with an even girth of six or seven feet. Among the large trees the thick underwood of bushes and large-leaved seedlings, is varied by the long dark sprays of the polars or great mountain ash, and the light green of the kumba. and is adorned by festoons of great climbing trees, whose cable-like trunks, some smooth and tight-drawn, others ragged knotted and loose-swinging, stretch from the ground to the tree tops and cross overhead from tree to tree.

Beyond the nook or hollow behind Little Cauk the terrace is opener and the trees are small and stunted, little larger than in the poorer and less sheltered parts of the hill-top. Onwards the path winds through a thin coppice of yellowish grey and bright green bushes, with a sprinkling of larger trees with smooth black bark, spikes of small bottle-brush flowers, and fresh dark-purple leaves ageing into deep green [The bushes are, yellowish-green bahmans, bright karandas, purple-sprayed nandeva creepers, bluish-green pisas, coarse russet eshvars, tama-ind-like avails, kudas with white sweet-smelling flower heads, and purpled-tipped ranbhendis; the large trees are ains.]. Round Little Cauk, beyond the mouth of the Khatvan valley, an easy footpath winds over rocky spurs scantily clothed with trees and shrubs. To the right rise the smooth rounded masses of Little and Great Cauk with huge honey-combs clustering under some of the overhanging ledges. To the left, down a steep slope, stretches a narrow band of leafless trees and bushes. In front is the small ravine of the Borgariv stream, whose further bank rises above some black rocks in a bright many-tinted slope of green, which falls gently south, opening into brown and yellow glades as it nears the plateau's edge [Yellow piprans, grey umbars and asans, blue pisas, jambuls, and sisus, deep green tupas, anjanis, kumblas, and mangoes.]. Along the edge runs a low rocky scarp, under which stretches a second broader wooded belt, with open glades and clumps of trees, leading to a bare flat spur on which cluster the huts of the Karpa hamlet. To the west, as if from the outer fringe of the upper terrace, rise the gentle slopes that centre in the tower-like rock of Visalgad.

Under Great Cauk the wood again grows thicker, with a fresh undergrowth of bushes and seedlings, hiding great mossy boulders whose shapes fit the hollows and scars in the scarp above. Again the path leaves the deeper wood, and, along winding glades, passes among clumps of brushwood and groups of trees, that, to the right, rise in a bank of bright leafage, above which, in form and colour like a huge elephant, towers the black mass of Great Cauk. On the right, past Great Cauk point, the bare south bluff of Matheran, with notable vulture nests in the holes on the face of the cliffs, stretches west to the outlying buttress of One Tree Hill. In front is a well wooded slope, through whose trees looms the flat mass of Prabal, passing south into the long ridge that leads to the plateau and rocky peak of Visajgad, behind which rise several ranges, the chief of them ending to the south-east in the funnel hill of Karnala. Further on, falling to the bed of the Varosa, the path enters the Varosa forest among huge boulders, thick underwood, festoons of climbing trees, and mighty mango trunks. From the upper fringe of this forest the path partly paved, partly rock-cut, steep but nowhere so rough as to require scrambling, climbs in sharp zigzags up the narrow bed of the Varosa between the black bastion-like bluffs of Great Cauk and One Tree Hill. Looking back from the crest, on a flat spur, beyond the deep green of the forest, are the thatched roofs of Varosa. About five miles across the plain, close to the dark green line of the Panvel Highway, is the large village or country town of Cauk, and, beyond Cauk, rise the rugged peaks and flat ranges of Bhor in Poona and of Pen in Kolaba.

Louisa to Porcupine.

2. Louist Point to Porcupine Point. To go down Louisa point and up Porcupine point, take the path between Ewart Lodge and Stone House, close to the gate of Stone House, and go down about 300 feet to the terrace. On the terrace, before reaching the Thakur's huts, turn to the right, and follow the path, which leads north, through the wood, to a dead tree almost right under the end of Porcupine point. Then follow a little path to the right which runs pretty straight up the hill, and reaches the top close to Porcupine point. This road is about two miles long, the time about three-quarters of an hour, and the path fairly good all the way.

Round Louisa

3. Round Louisa Point. To walk round Louisa point, go down to the terrace as in the last walk. Then, instead of taking the right, turn to the left, and so double Louisa point. Then keep pretty high and go straight to a watercourse running down from the hill on the left. Climb this watercourse, past a perennial spring below Stone House, on to the Louisa point road immediately opposite Stone House gate. This round is not much over a mile; the time nearly three-quarters of an hour; the path easy till it rounds the point, after this it is some times faint and easily lost. At the end of May and the beginning of June, under the end of the point, the terrace is covered with beautiful fragrant white lilies, whose bulbs lying close to the surface can be easily dug up with a pocket knife.

Malet's Spring

4. Malet's Spring to Porcupine Point. To go from Malet's spring to Porcupine point, follow the bed of the watercourse at Malet's Spring for a short distance till a narrow path appears on the left. Follow this through the wood till it meets another path running down on the left from the spur just below the end of Porcupine point. Climb this spur till close under the rocky nose of the point, then turn to the right, and keep under the rock of the point for about 200 yards, till, near the top, you hit on the path by which the ascent is made in walk number two. This is a far rougher and more difficult walk than those already described. The distance is about two miles, the time more than an hour, the path bad and steep all the way, and in places faint and easily lost.

Round Panorama.

5. Round Panorama Point. The walk round Panorama point is one of the most beautiful and interesting on the hill. Pass down the valley of the Simpson reservoir, keeping on the right bank of the stream below the dam, until you reach a point about 300 yards short of where the stream falls over the edge of the hill into the valley, a few yards above a spring of water close to the right bank the stones round which are covered with red paint. The foundations on the left bank of the stream and a steep red-soil bank on the right are traces of the Elphinstone Reservoir which was swept away during the first rains after it was built. At the top of the red-soil bank is the Katkaris' burial-ground, the graves marked with mounds of loose stones on some of which are the remains of offerings. Across this burial-ground north-east towards Panorama point, a path runs into the belt of wood which stretches almost round the hill about the level of the Ram Bagh. Follow this path till it leads under the end of Panorama point. Here a narrow slightly sloping ridge stretches a considerable distance north. The point of this ridge commands a striking view. Looking back all that can be seen of Matheran is the map of Panorama point rising in a huge steep cone like a miniature Matterhorn. Looking north, perched on a neighbouring hill, are the ruins of the Maratha fort of Peb so close that the lines between the stones can be clearly seen. Though so close it cannot be reached, unless with the aid of ropes or ladders. A little below, the ground falls sheer away in a short overhanging bluff, and a step nick with scarped sides cut in the narrow isthmus which joins the ridge with Peb hill adds to the difficulty of the passage. In late May and in June the terrace below Panorama point, like the Louisa point plateau, is covered with sweet white lilies. Returning to the path below the cliff, pass round the point, and keep the path south-east through the wood to a very large old fig tree, where the path branches on several directions. The shortest way is to keep to the highest or right hand path till it leads to one of the two steep little tracks which climb the hill on the right. The first of these tracks leads to the hill-top a few yards north, and the second track, a few yards south of the Governor's Site. Both of these paths are hard to find, both are steep, and if, as is not unlikely, one of the many watercourses is mistaken for the path, a troublesome and rather dangerous climb ends in a steep impassable scarp. The midmost path leads slightly down past the spring which feeds the waterpipe, out on to the Neral road a few yards above the point where the pipe crosses the road, and about a quarter of a mile above the drinking fountain on the upper terrace. The lowest path in the wood, after turning north for a short distance, leads to the upper terrace close to the drinking fountain. The whole distance of this round is about four miles; the time nearly two hours; the path fairly good all the way, but there is a little difficulty in finding it at the beginning near the Katkari's burial-ground and also in choosing the proper point and passing a little hamlet, narrow track up the west side of track up Panorama hill at the end.

Round Alexander.

6. Round Alexander Point. The walk round Alexander point is interesting, but rough. At the meeting of the three roads to Alexander point, the Olympiea Hotel and Cauk point, just below the back of Paradise Lodge, in the corner between Alexander point and the body of the hill, a path in the steep bed of a watercourse runs down the eastern face of the hill. For the greater part of the first five minutes the path seems to have once been paved like an ancient Roman road. Further down, in the bed of the stream, are a number of holes like shallow wells. The deepening of these pools and the paving of the path probably date from the time when the market place was close by. A few yards further down a path runs into the wood on the left. Follow this path east, round the south-western slope of Alexander point. At times the path is faint and easily lost, and in one place it runs for a few yards most unpleasantly near the edge of a sheer drop of seventy or eighty feet. At times it leads into another better-marked and more-used path, running from the left down the spur under the end of Alexander point. This path which is long and steep, and very rough in one or two places, leads to the top right over the tip of the nose of Alexander point. The length of this round is about one and a half miles, the time about an hour; the path very steep all the way and in places difficult.

Round Garbat.

7. Round Garbat Point. Round Garbat point is a short and easy walk, but somewhat exposed to the morning sun. To avoid the sun keep the eastern side of the point, and follow a narrow track which runs down to the left about 300 yards from where the two roads to the point divide. After rounding the end of the point and passing a little hamlet, narrow track up the west side of the point leads to the top, rather nearer the end than where the eastern path left the crest of the hill. This round is about one and a half miles, the time a little over half an hour; and the path good and easy throughout.

Whole-day Walks.

Of the six whole-day, or at least heavy half-day walks, four keep to Matheran hill and two stretch to the neighbouring hills. The four long Matheran trips are (1) from Cauk spur to Alexander point: (2) from Louisa point to One Tree hill; (3) from Louisa spur to Porcupine point; and (4) from Elphinstone Spring to Porcupine point. The two neighbouring hills which can he easily visited are Prabal on the west and Peb on the north. These walks are from five to eight miles with a long steep climb right into the plain. None of them can be easily done in less than three or four hours, and they are beyond the powers of most ladies. Nailed boots and a long strong staff are almost necessary, especially on the steep slippery lower slopes.

Chauk to Alexander.

1. Cauk Spur to Alexander Point. Cauk spur to Alexander point is a beautiful walk, especially in October, when the streams are full and the lower slopes of the hill-side are covered with flowering plants. Start, as in half-day walk number 1, by the old Cauk road into the Ram Bagh and follow the path towards One Tree Hill for about half a mile, till a broad well-marked path runs into it on the left. Follow this path for nearly another half mile till almost straight above the village at its foot. Then, turning sharply to the left, pass down the north face of the spur into the valley. Thence, keeping north-east, cross the large watercourse which runs from the corner between Alexander point and the body of the hill, work round the long spur which runs down from the end of the point past some Thakur's huts to the north of it at the east foot of the hill, and then strike up to the west by a path which runs down on the left over the slopes on the eastern face of the point. This leads to the top some 200 yards north of Alexander point. This is the longest way up, but it is the easiest and steadiest climb. The bed of the watercourse (the path followed in the beginning of half-day walk number 6) is much shorter and is in the shade almost the whole way. But it is extremely steep and rough, and the lower part is almost impassable if there is any water in the stream. The track up the spur just below the end of Alexander point (the path which ends short walk number 6) is also much shorter, but it is very steep, bare of trees, and open to the sun almost all day long. The longer route passes a beautiful deep pool about eight feet broad under a waterfall some twelve feet high, a perfect bathing place in October. Then also the path through the wood is gay with the beautiful purple yellow flowers of a tall mallow, and a thick bush covered with large bright magenta blossoms.

Lauisa to One Tree Hill.

2. Louisa Point to One Tree Hill. To go from Louisa point to One Tree Hill, take the path near Stone House, and on reaching the terrace keep to the left as in short walk number three. Before reaching right under the end of the point strike down to the right by a steep path which runs almost straight into the valley. Follow a track which runs south, along the left bank of the stream, to some Thakurs' huts on the western slopes of Matheran, a little to the north of One Tree Hill. From this a very steep path up the slope, on the left, leads to the Ram Bagh terrace, a little to the north of One Tree Hill. Turning to the right, a little path to the south leads in a few minutes into the large path that runs from One Tree Hill to the village of Cauk. Here turn east to the left and climb by the One Tree Hill path as the end of half-day walk number 1.

Louisa to Porcupine.

3. Louisa Spur to Porcupine Point. Looking down on the terrace from the top of the path near Stone House, beyond the Thakurs' huts, a long narrow ridge stretches north-west, apparently joining the terrace with the low hill to the north-east of Prabal. But between them a deep narrow gorge cuts the north-west of the ridge into an almost sheer cliff. Go down to the terrace as in the last walk, but keep straight on, past the Thakurs' huts, by the path which runs to the north-west along the crest of the ridge. Shortly before the end of the ridge a steep but quite practicable path runs down on each side. The path on the left leads down the western slope into the Prabal valley. The path on the right, down the northern slope little further along the ridge leads into the Maldunga valley. Taking the north path, just before the last descent into the valley, is a difficult and rather risky bit of climbing. On reaching the bottom, keep to the nearest or south bank of the stream which runs through the gorge at the northwest end of the ridge. Follow this north-east till you meet a steep narrow path running from the western slopes of the hill on your right, Working always to the north-east, for in places the path is not well marked, this leads to the terrace between Louisa point and Porcupine point, described in half-day walk number 2, at a point about five minutes from the beginning of the last ascent in that walk. Here turn to the left and follow the path to the northeast to the dead tree, under the extreme end of Porcupine point, and then finish as in half-day walk number 2. The forest and brushwood in the lower parts of this walk are much thicker than they are either between Louisa point and One Tree Hill or between Cauk spur and Alexander point; they are less frequented by human beings, and consequently richer in animal life. The wild cat, the large black mungoose, and a very dark squirrel, all of which are rare on the top of the hill, may be constantly seen. A large dark woodpecker, with a dull red head, rarely if ever seen on the hill-top, makes the woods resound with the noise of his strong quick blows.

An easier but very much longer walk is, on reaching the valley below the Louisa spur, instead of turning up by the steep little path on the right, to keep north-east till you strike the broad well-beaten path between Malduhga and Matheran. Following this to the right it runs east and then south, to the dead tree at the foot of the last ascent.

Elphinstone Spring to porcupine.

4. Elphinstone Spring to Porcupine Point. To walk from Elphmstone spring to Porcupine point, take the steep narrow path that runs down by the watercourse below the spring between Elphinstone Lodge and Craigie Burn, and keep north till you reach the plain below the west of Hart point, a short distance from its end. Thence go west to the main bed of the stream which flows down below Malet's spring from the corner between Hart and Porcupine points. Follow this stream till, after passing a clump of very large trees and a cluster of Thakurs' huts, about a mile west from Hart point, there stands on the left a single hut beside a single tree on a spur of the hill above. Climb this hut, and take a path running round the northern slopes of Porcupine point. Following this round to the north-west of the point it leads to the dead tree already mentioned from which the round can be finished as in the last long walk. A shorter but steeper way is, before rounding the point, to strike to the left by a narrow and little used path, running straight up the spur immediately below the end of Porcupine point and finish as in half-day walk number 4.

Excursions.

The two trips to Prabal and Peb involve twelve or fourteen miles hard walking, with two long steep descents, and two difficult ascents. The walking takes nearly eight hours, four going and four coming back, and a halt of not less than three or four hours should be made in the heat of the day. A whole-day of twelve hours should therefore be given to each of these trips and they should not be tried by any but good walkers.

Matheran to Prabal.

1. Matheran to Prabal. Prabal may be reached from Matheran either from Louisa point or from One Tree Hill. The Louisa point route is shorter but the One Tree Hill route is easier, especially in the Matheran part. Starting from Louisa point and coming back by One Tree Hill, begin as an whole-day walk number 2. until you reach the bed of the stream in the Prabal valley. Then, instead of keeping down the stream, strike across it to the west and climb bv the spur which runs down the east face of Prabal. to the south of the square plateau about half way up on the north-east. The path, which is not always easy to keep, trends slightly to the north, until it reaches a wooded ravine about two-thirds of the way up. Here the path turns sharp back to the south and leads to the top a little north of the middle of the east face, of the hill. Prabal, though not nearly so large, is much like Matheran. The same flat wooded terrace runs along the hill-side, about a third of the way down, and is particularly notable under the north-east end. The same steep sea-cliff-like scarps rise from this terrace to the crest of the hill. There is the same flat top, more thinly wooded, but with here and there in the hollows some fine timber. The same points or capes stand out from the body of the hill and end in the same weather-worn conical crags. There is even a central hollow like the Pisarnath valley, only sloping east not west, down which, for some time after the rains, a stream flows and falls over a high rock in the. east edge of the hill, almost opposite the outfall of the Pisarnath stream on Matheran. There are no regular dwellings on Prabal, but a colony of Katkaris, from the neighbouring villages, who occasionally set up a few temporary huts in the north of the hill. Of former occupation the chief traces are the ruined Maratha fort and a rock-cut cistern at the south end. The chief part of the fort now standing is on a ledge below the south end of the hill. But there are signs that the hill-top was once fortified, for here and there are clear traces of a wall or line of ramparts running round the top of the hill. Looking east is the long flat top of Matheran with sheer cliffs rising from a belt of wood much like what Prabal looks from Matheran. Seaward and over the Kohkan is a fine view, much wider than the view from Matheran. To return, take a path at the south end of the hill which runs from the fort down the south-east slopes into the valley. Then keep slightly north of east to the Thakurs' huts which formed the turning point of whole-day walk number 2. Thence finish as in whole-day walk number 2. In the wood below the fort of Prabal hill grow two sorts of climbing fern, Lygodium scandens and Lygodium flexuosum, which have become rare on Matheran.

Matheran to Peb.

2. Matheran to Peb. Peb is the fort on the nearest or southmost point of the Bava Malang range, which, in half-day walk number 5, has been noticed as 'so near and yet so far' from the plateau below Panorama point. Descend by Elphinstone spring as in long walk number 4, but, instead of turning west to the left, keep straight north, leaving Hart point, the Simpson reservoir cliffs, and Panorama point successively on the right, till you reach the foot of a wooded ravine sloping down from the north-west, in the corner between Peb hill and Nakhinda, the next peak of the Bava Malahg range. A stiff scramble up this ravine leads to the rear or north-west side of the fort, to a narrow grass-cutter's path, that runs sharp back towards the south-east at the foot of the fort wall. Follow this south-east for a short distance till you meet another narrow path on your left, rising steeply for a short distance over a breach in the fort wall. The fort, like the Prabal fort, seems to have been planned to enclose the whole top of the hill, but. unlike Prabal fort, it has no spring or reservoir within the walls. To the north the ground rises gradually in a long narrow ridge to a point apparently considerably higher than Matheran.

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