The ascent was necessarily slow, and it was not till late in the afternoon that I saw, some 500 feet above me, and at a total elevation of about 3,200 feet above sea-level, the white walls of the only planter's bungalow in the southern part of Mysore.

To this pioneer of our civilization--Mr.Frederick Green, who had begun work in 1843--I had a letter of introduction, and was most kindly received, and put in the way of acquiring land which I started on and still hold.

To the south, in the adjacent little province of Coorg--now, as we shall afterwards see, an extensive coffee-field--the first European plantation had been started the year before, i.e., 1854, while to the north some fifty to seventy miles away the country was, in a European sense, occupied by only three English, or, to be exact, Scotch planters.

In 1856 I started active life as a planter on my own account, about twelve miles away from the estate of Mr.
Green, while in the same year two other planters--Scotchmen by the way--made their appearance.

The southern part of Mysore was thus occupied by four planters, and we were all about twelve miles from each other.