BOOTAN. 
136 
he offered me any sum of money I might want, for the discharge of 
my travelling expences. He ordered a quantity of the roasted grain, 
(rice) which we used to eat and praise, when we visited him, to be 
packed up and sent with us; and while we were at Punukka, we 
received from him daily supplies of most excellent fresh butter, which 
I thought equal to any I had ever eaten, for consistence, colour, and 
flavour. 
Their process of making butter is as follows. They put the milk 
destined for the purpose into a narrow upright bucket, with a lid 
adapted to it, in the centre of which is a hole that admits the passage 
of a bamboo shaft; round the upper part of this shaft a piece of cord, 
or thong, is passed, so that two persons, each seizing an end, make it 
to revolve rapidly, and agitate the contents of the bucket. The upper 
end of the shaft being pointed, is received in a concave bit of wood, 
which is occasionally tied to a tree, or any other fixed object which 
happens to be in the way. The lower end, within the vessel, is split 
into four parts, to a certain distance; a bandage of twine prevents its 
splitting higher. The parts are then kept open, to any degree of ex¬ 
tension, by a cross piece, which is tied with a thong high or low, in 
the split part, as it happens to suit the fancy of the operator. Rude 
/ 
as this contrivance is, it contains the principle applicable to the same 
process throughout all the universe, quick and continued agitation. 
Whether it be the most expeditious mode is of small importance; 
it is at least simple, easily applied, and completely answers the 
purpose. 
On the morning of the 8th, horses and a guide being ready to attend 
