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PA CHAAfBJ 305
Trichinopoly and Salem Districts, Madras, lying between 11° 9' and
i 1° 29' N. and q8° 31' and 78° 51' E., due north of Trichinopoly city.
Their total area is 177 square miles, of which 105 are in the Musiri
and Perambalur tdluks of Trichinopoly and the rest in the Atur hdluk
of Salem. They attain a height of 2,500 feet above the level of the
sea, and their greatest length from north to south is about 20 miles.
In shape the range has a slight resemblance to an hour-glass, being
nearly cut in two by ravines of great size and depth opening to the
north-east and south-west. Of the two parts into which it is thus
divided, the north-eastern is the larger and has a generally higher level
than the south-eastern. A striking characteristic of the range is the
great steepness of the western slopes as compared with those on the
east, which latter are rarely precipitous and are broken by several long
spurs which project far into the low country. The climate of the
Pachaimalais is notoriously malarious.
The `reserved' forests on the hills cover an area of 8o square miles,
and consist largely of usilai (Albizzaa amara), vengai (Pterocarpus
Marsupium), teak, black-wood (Dalbergia latifolaa), sandal-wood, and
bamboos. The minor products of the hills are myrabolams (Terminalaa
Chebula); vembddampattai ( Ventilago madraspatana), a bark from which
a red dye is extracted; the fruit of the hill gooseberry (Rhodomyrius
tomentosa), and honey. The only large game on the range are a few
leopards and bears.
The inhabited portion is entirely in the Musiri tdluk. This com-
prises 3 villages-Vannadu, Tambaranadu, and Kombai-containing
in the aggregate 68 hamlets and 6,529 inhabitants. The people call
themselves Kanchi Vellalas, and say they migrated to these hills from
Conjeeveram (compare the account of the Malaiyalis on the Shevaroy
Hills) at the time of a severe famine. The crops they cultivate do
not differ materially from those grown on the plains. There is no
`wet' cultivation, but an unirrigated variety of rice is raised. The
jack-tree (Arlocarpus integrifolia) is also extensively grown.
The cultivated land is divided into two classes : ulavakkdu, land
capable of being ploughed; and punalkddu, or land which cannot be
ploughed and the cultivation of which is carried on by grain being
dibbled in among trees and rocks wherever a few feet of soil is to be
found. These two kinds of land are assessed at 8 annas and 4 annas
respectively per acre. The cadastral survey of the hills is in progress.
A forest road runs from the Turaiyur-Atur road to the foot of the hills,
and thence a bridle-path leads to a forest resthouse on the plateau,
the total length of both being 8 miles.
Pacharnba.-Village in the Giridih subdivision of Hazaribagh Dis-
trict, Bengal, situated in 24° 13' N. and 86° 16° E., 3E miles from
Giridih railway station. Population (1901), 3,510. Pachamba is the
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