274 Capt. Vembertons Mission to Bootan, 1837-38. [April, 



None of the wild birds are made subservient to use ; indeed the 

 natives appear to be very deficient in means for procuring them. The 

 sacredness of life may be one reason, but even the most superstitious 

 will eat any bird one shoots, provided it be large enough to promise a 

 substantial repast. 



The same remark is applicable to fish, which are common in most 

 streams below 4000 feet. The two most common are the Bookhar, 

 which is scarcely found higher than 2000 feet, and the Adoee, which is 

 found as high as 4000 feet, and perhaps higher, but its habits render 

 it difficult to see. The Bookhar abounds in the Deo Nuddee below 

 Dewangiri ; it is from the sport it affords, and the great readiness with 

 which it takes a fly, to be considered as the trout of India. The Adoee 

 is said to refuse all bait, and I have found this to be the case not only 

 in this instance, but in all those which have a similarly situated 

 mouth, such as the Sentoosee, Gurriah, and Nepoorah of Assam. At 

 Punukka, where the Adoee is plentiful, it is caught by nooses ; such as 

 were so caught were all small, and the young anglers were obviously 

 afraid of detection. At this place I saw a solitary instance of the use of 

 a casting net, but I suspect that it was under authority ; elsewhere I 

 observed none even of the ordinary rude expedients for catching fish. 

 Both of the above fish are nutritious food, and are so plentiful that they 

 really might form a valuable acquisition to the miserable diet of the 

 lower classes ; but this would not suit the benevolent ideas of the priests, 

 who however appear to eat stinking dried fish from the Plains with 

 great sang froid. To the poor in Bootan every thing is denied. Bees 

 appear to be plentiful, but their buildings are passed with indifference 

 by the lazy Bootea. 



Of the vegetable productions that occur naturally in Bootan, the ap- 

 plication for purposes of life is confined to timber, fuel, and dyes.* Of 

 the various kinds of timber trees I am quite ignorant ; they are 

 used chiefly for rafters, planks, and troughs, either for aqueducts 

 or for mangers. A great part of the planking is derived from fir trees, 

 which are always preferred for fuel. Of the turpentine procurable 

 from their various species of Pinus they seem to make no use, so 

 that they are ignorant of one great value of these valuable trees ; that 

 of the Pinus excelsa is very abundant, and highly fragrant. In the 

 lower ranges the bamboo becomes of almost universal application, and 

 constitutes the greater portion of the huts of the inhabitants of these 

 districts ; baskets of various sizes, and implements for clearing the rice 

 from the husk by agitation, &c. are likewise manufactured from it. 



* Although the Bogh Pitttur, or path, is found in abundance on the higher ranges, 

 yet it is not resorted to for furnishing an article of trade. The tree is a species of 

 birch, and the thin flakes of its bark arc used in the composition of hookah snakes, 



