UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 213 



quantity of the dried herb, as well as with a 

 mate-pot, which is either carried in the hand, 

 or suspended round the neck by a small chain 

 if the person is on horseback. I was rather 

 ashamed to confess that all these circumstances 

 were new to me, as well as that the tree is a 

 species of holly, the Ilex Paraguay ens is ; but 

 you will tell me if they are correct. 



Then came Kamtschatka, which produced an 

 account of the fiarana, a species of lily that is 

 universal in the eastern parts of Siberia, and 

 almost covers the ground with its blossoms. 

 The bulbs are gathered in August, and laid by 

 for use ; after being baked they are reduced to 

 flour, and are not only used in soups and other 

 dishes, but make the best bread of the country. 

 Sometimes they are boiled and eaten like po- 

 tatoes ; and besides their own exertions in col- 

 lecting them, the Kamtschatkans have a pro- 

 vident little mouse, which not only hoards them 

 in its magazines, but has the sagacity to bring 

 them out in sunny weather to dry. The na- 

 tives search for and seize on these hoards, but 

 they always leave some of the contents for their 

 poor little purveyors. There are several species 

 of this lily, from one of which the Russians 

 produce a sort of wine. 



We had afterwards the Apatea, or Hottentot 

 bread, made from a parasite which grows on the 

 roots of a Euphorbia at the Cape of Good 



