tween Bootan and the Lama's country, or Great Thibet. From
this limit, to the great river Burrampooter, is in many places
a hundred and fifty miles in extent. The river Teejla rifes
not far from the former, and haftens fouth through Bootan
and Bengal, till it is loft near Dacca in Bengal.
T his country rifes into mountains o f prodigious height.
Th*e fummits eternally covered with fnow, the fides with
Trees. forefts o f ftately trees o f various kinds; fome, fuch as pines,
afpens, birch, cyprefs and yew, holly and elder; aih is uncommon,
oaks have not yet been difcovered in Bootan ; firs,
and others known in Europe, others again peculiar to the country
and climate. Many o f thefe forefis are ufelefs to mankind,
being placed amidft rocks inaccefiible. At their bafe, the val-
lies and fides are cultivated, and are produ&ive o f wheat,
barley, and even rice. In the depth o f the vallies ruih numbers
o f furious torrents, which, increafing in their courfe,
and at length gaining the plains, are loft in the rivers o f
Bengal.
T he objeas which Mr. Saunders had in view in his travels,
was a knowledge o f the vegetable and mineral kingdom ; we
may e xp ea from his ikill ample knowlege o f both. A t Buxaduar,
on the north fide of the mountains which bound the
fouth of the Deeb Rajah's country, in Lat. off 58', Mr. Saun-
“ TBEN' ders tells us, that many of the plants of Bengal there require
culture; yet many of the plants of the torrid zone grow therè
in the wild jungles; for'example, a fpecies o f plantain (Mufa)
with a broad leaf, ufeful for thatching; the Bengal kind will
not thrive here. In the jungle near Murijhong, twenty miles
farther
farther fouth, is found two fpecies o f the Laurus, of Linnaeus,
the L. CaJJia, and another unnamed; the root of the firft, dried,
has the flavor o f cinnamon, and is ufed medicinally by the
natives.
In refpedt to European fruits, here are good orchards o f E u ro p e an ,
peaches, apricots, apples, and pears, walnuts are not unfrequent,
ftrawberries and bilberries are common, the firft excellent.
The Arbutus uva urft, common to Scotland and the Alps, is
found here. The number o f plants which grow under the
name of weeds, common to this country, England, and other
parts of Europe, is very great.
Mr. Saunders enters into the mineral kingdom, but feems
to referve the depth of his enquiries for a larger work. At
p. 81, he fpeaks of a whitilh quartz, as ufed in the porcelain
bufinefs; in parts, he met with a flinty fpar of a fort o f granite,
and a pure limeftone. On the front of a certain mountain V a s t C o l u m .
he was ftruek with the appearance o f fix or feven angulated NAR ^0CKS‘
femi-pillars o f great circumference, and fome hundreds of feet
high, projecting over a great cataraft. Gold is found in form
of duft, and in large quantities, and often in large lumps, and
veins adhering to flint and quartz. There are alfo lead, iron,
and copper.
R o c k - s a l t and tincal, in vaft quantities, from the bottom o f R ock Sa l t .
a lake in Thibet. This laft is got in great mafies, but broken to Tikcai"
pieces for the conveniency of carriage; it feems inexhauftible;
the lake is twenty miles in circumference, feated bleakly, and
frozen during a great part o f the year. In Thibet:it is ufed
to folder with, and promote the fufion of gold and filver.
V ol. II. Z z Tincal