B O O T A N\ 
19 
of bamboos; and this they termed a fort. The house was totally of 
a different construction from any in Bengal. The first apartment, to 
which the ascent was by a wooden ladder, was elevated about eight 
feet from the ground, and supported on forked props. Bamboos, rest¬ 
ing on the forks, served as beams: the floor of one room was formed 
by mats of split bamboo, that of the other by pieces of plank from three 
to six feet long, and one, or one and a half broad, hewn by the axe, 
and laid on beams of fir. A prop rose from the centre of the ground 
floor, to the roof, which was of thatch; and the sides of the room were 
encompassed by split bamboos, interwoven lattice-wise, so as to leave 
interstices for the admission of light and air: the apartments were di¬ 
vided by reeds placed upright, confined at top between two flat pieces 
of bamboo, and resting at bottom in a groove. There was no iron 
whatever in the whole fabric: the thatch was very low, and it pro¬ 
jected considerably beyond the walls, so that the rooms were equally 
defended from the rain and sun. 
Chichacotta is famous, as having been an object of contest between 
the first detachment of our troops, and the people of Bootan, in the 
war carried on upon their frontier in the year 17 72. Asa fortification, 
it was then, what it is at this day, a large oblong square, encompassed 
by a high bank, and thick stockade. The Booteeas defended it with 
obstinacy, and a battle was fought in its vicinity, in which they dis¬ 
played much personal courage, though it was impossible they could 
long contend against the superior advantage of firelocks and cannon, 
over matchlocks, the sabre, and the bow. But though compelled to 
give way, they made Chichacotta, for a considerable time after, a post 
