Note 10 — HISTORICAL RECORD

Lieutenant Campbell, of the SEVENTY-SECOND foot, appears to have been delighted with this part of the Mysore: he states in his journal:—“I have never seen any part of India comparable to the valley on our right; it is truly beautiful beyond conception! The hills that bound it form an amphitheatre, covered with wood, except where a rugged precipice or stupendous rock shows itself, and waterfalls enrich the scene. The valley is covered with delightful verdure, and luxuriant crops, interspersed with clumps of the stateliest trees in the world, bearing a charmingly variegated foliage; and beneath their shade, small houses, built of cajan-leaf and bamboo, afford shelter to the cow-herds who tend their flocks and watch their fields. Numberless villages are strewed in the valley, and everything bears the mark of peace and plenty. The inhabitants are protected by us, and as we passed, we saw in every field the busy husbandmen reaping the fruits of their labour. After coming to our camp ground, I walked out with Captain Braithwaite, and we found the untilled land covered with bringals, yams, and other vegetables, growing spontaneously. On our left hand lie the Animalli woods, famous for their extent and thickness, and for the size, variety, and quality of their trees (teak-wood being in the greatest abundance and perfection); also for the number of wild animals viz.—elephants, tigers, bears, wolves, and the wild-boar, with a numerous tribe of the rarest birds—peacocks in great numbers. Wild elephants are so numerous, that when Tippoo was here, about four months since, he caught, as we are told, seventy of them. We are encamped on the ground he occupied; I can trace the place where, they say, his own tents stood.”