88 
BOOTAN. 
tation, from that succulent and rank reed, termed in Bengal, augeah- 
gaus, which grows to the height of thirty feet, and is as thick as the 
wrist, to the most compact and loftiest timber of the forest. It is hardly 
necessary to add, that from this exhaustless store, the remotest provinces 
of India, derive an ample supply of the best materials for constructing 
boats, and for all the purposes of building. As a proper appendage of 
so grand a scene, there are here found innumerable herds of that inva¬ 
luable animal, the elephant, which a beneficent Providence has given, 
to ease the labour of a slothful and feeble race, and has wisely fitted 
him for his employment, by a docility equal to his strength. 
