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

utBOOT A N. 45We were seriously assured that the concussion of the air, occasionedby loud conversation, would inevitably bring down on us, torrentsofrain, ^^'e escaped the danger•.we had not long left Peachukom,when the clouds, which we had seen collecting, broke in abundantshowers. Thus we obtained credit for attention to the advice of ourguides ; nor were their precautions lost upon us, as they taught us toavoid wasting too much time on so commanding aspot, which, fromitssuperior elevation, stands in the way, to intercept much of the vapourexhaled from the extensive waste, that lies spread far and widebeneath itsbase.We next ascended the Oomkoo, a mountain higher than the former,covered to its summit with trees, all clothed with moss, and withcreepers intertwined amongst them, of surprising length and thickness,and not less remarkable for their flexibility and strength ;qualitiesAviiich render them an excellent substitute for rope, the use ofwhich indeed they entirely supersede*The mountain is composed in some places of clay ; but for themost part itconsists of a flinty stone, striated with talc, and intermixedwith marble. It produces a great quantity of bamboo, which is very Ihollow, and smaller than that of Bengal, having its knots at a greater i"In the forests of* America are found a sort of ozier, or withs, called by the Spaniards,Bejucose; by the French, Lianes ; by the Indians, Nibbees; which are usually employedas ropes in America. This plant twists about the trees it meets with, and risingabove their highest branches, its tendrils descend perpendicularly, strike into the ground,take root, rise up around another, and thus mount and descend altesnately. Other tendrilsare carried obliquely by the wind, or some other accident, and form a confused andinterwoven cordage, which resembles the jigging of a ship.— Bancroft's Nat. Hist, ofGuiana, p. 99.*