Coorg

Coorg (a corruption of Kodagu, 'steep mountain'), a province under the government of India, on the eastern slope of the western Ghats, and bordering on Mysore. Area, 1583 sq. m.; pop. (1881) 178,302; (1891) 173,055—a decrease. The capital is Merkara (pop. 8500). Coorg is mainly within the basin of the Kaveri River; great part of its area is 3000 feet above the sea. The yearly rainfall is 122 inches, and hence the temperature is humid. Nearly the whole of this rugged region is covered with forests, which form the main natural wealth of the country, though gold and iron are found. The natives, a branch of the Dravidian stock, speaking a language akin to Kanarese, are handsome and athletic mountaineers. Agriculture is limited to the valleys. Coffee (injured recently by disease), cardamoms, and cinchona are grown. Polyandry used to be the rule. Cairns and dolmens are common, and the country is intersected by earthen ramparts, which are from 15 to 25 feet in height, with deep ditches.