1779- THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 307 



duce. It is a common observation amongst the 

 Kamtschadales, that the bounty of Providence never 

 fails them ; for that such seasons as are most hurtful 

 to the sarana, are always the most favourable for 

 fishing ; and that, on the contrary, a bad fishing 

 month is always made up by the exuberance of the 

 sarana harvest. It is used in cookery in various 

 ways. When roasted in embers, it supplies the place 

 of bread, better than any thing the country affords. 

 After being baked in an oven, and pounded, it be- 

 comes an excellent substitute for flour and meal of 

 every sort, and in this form is mixed in all their 

 soups, and most of their other dishes. It is esteemed 

 extremely nourishing, has a pleasant bitter taste, and 

 may be eaten every day without cloying. We used 

 to boil these roots, and eat them as potatoes, either 

 alone or with our meat, and found them very whole- 

 some and pleasant. It has been already mentioned, 

 that this useful plant grows also at Oonalashka, where 

 the roots of it are used, and constitute a considerable 

 part of their food, in like manner as in Kamtschatka. 

 The other plant alluded to is called the sweet grass; 

 the botanical description is, Heracleum Sibericum 

 foliis pi?inatis, follolis quinis, intermediis sessilibus, 

 corollulis uniformibus. Hort. Upsal. 65. The time 

 I took particular notice of it was in May, when it 

 was about a foot and a half high, had much the ap- 

 pearance of sedge, and was covered with a white 

 down, or dust, which looked exceedingly like the 

 hoar-frost hanging upon it, and might be rubbed off: 

 it tasted as sweet as sugar, but was hot and pungent. 

 The stalk is hollow, and consists of three or four 

 joints, from each of which arise large leaves, and, 

 when at its full growth, is six feet high. 



This plant was formerly a principal ingredient in 

 the cookery of most of the Kamtschadale dishes; but 

 since the Russians got possession of the country, it 

 has been almost entirely appropriated to the purpose 

 of distillation. The manner in which it is gathered, 



x 2 



