An Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet - Prajna Quest

BOOTAN.S91their harvest ;and the ground yields them, as in other parts of Boutan,a second crop of rice. Here are to be found in the jungles, two speciesof the laurus of Linnaeus;one known by the name of the bastardcinnamon. The bark of the root of this plant, when dried, has verymuchthe taste and flavour of cinnamon ; it is used medicinally bythe natives.The chenopodium, producing the semen santonicum, orwormseed, a medicine formerly in great character, and used in thosediseases from which it is named, is common here.Found in the neighbourhood of this place, all the European plantswe had met with on the road. The ascent from Buxaduar to Murishongis upon the whole great, with a sensible change in the state ofthe air.May 25. On the road to Chooka^ found all the Murishong plants,cinnamon tree, willow, and one or two firs ; strawberries every whereand very good, and a few bilberry plants.Much sparry flint, and a sort of granite with which the road ispaved. There is a great deal of talc in the stones and soil, but in toosmall pieces to be useful. Frequent beds of clay and pure sand. Foundtwo mineral wellsslightly impregnated with iron, with much appearanceof that metal in this part of the country;and they are not unacc|uaintedwith the method of extracting it from the stones, but stilldespise its use in building. Towards Chooka there are many wellcultivated fieldsof wheat and barley.May 56. Road to Punukha^. From Chooka the country opens, andpresents to view many well cultivated fields and distant villages; a' Chuka. ' Punugga.