No. VII.
SANKRY DROOG.
This view is taken from the north-west side of Sankry Droog, one of the largest of those fortified hills that occur so frequently in the Carnatic. It is situated near the eastern limits of the Coimbatoor district; was formerly in the possession of Tippoo Sultaun, but taken by the English under Lord Cornwallis.
From this elevated point the eye commands an extensive view of the vale and distant mountains. The scene is grand; but of that dreary aspect, which, being neither softened by the beautiful, nor elevated by the magnificent, produces in the mind a mixture of horror and melancholy. If the surface of our terrestrial residence presented to us prospects only of this kind, our state here would appear to have few temptations. The fortress in which the spectator is placed seems elevated almost into the clouds; its sides are in many parts formed of perpendicular cliffs; it is moreover surrounded with every impediment, natural or artificial, that can render access either impossible or difficult; and all this is to enable one little tyrant to resist the hostility of another, or to favour his own projects of vengeance or plunder. The plain below, extending as far as the eye can reach, is one vast uninterrupted jungle; a rank, entangled, and impenetrable vegetation, swarming with its peculiar inhabitants, many of which are no less terrible to man than to themselves; and the whole expanse is one scene of inextinguishable warfare, where, urged by hunger, lust, or cruelty, mutual destruction rages without intermission. In fact, while we contemplate the nature and situation of the place, with the circumstances combined with it, we cannot but be strongly impressed with an idea of the ferocious and sanguinary propensities of all animated nature.
In the distance may be seen the river Cavery, where, quitting the hilly country, it first makes it appearance in the plains of the Carnatic.
Sankry Droog.