of a triangular form, and obtuse at the end, which is surrounded by six white stamina, whose extremities are yellow.  The root is of the bulbous kind, and resembles in shape that of garlic, being much of the same size, but rounder, and having, like that, four or five cloves hanging together.  The plant grows wild, and in considerable abundance; the women are employed in collecting the roots at the beginning of August, which are afterward dried in the sun, and then laid up for use.  On our second arrival, this harvest was just over, and had fallen much short of its usual produce.  It is a common observation amongst the Kamtschadales, that the bounty of Providence never fails them, for that such seasons as are most hurtful to the sarana, are always the most favourable for fishing; and that, on the contrary, a bad fishing month is always made up by the exuberance of the sarana harvest.  It is used in cookery in various ways.  When roasted in embers, it supplies the place of bread better than any thing the country affords.  After being baked in an oven and pounded, it becomes an excellent substitute for flour and meal of every sort; and in this form is mixed in all their soups, and most of their other dishes.  It is esteemed extremely nourishing, has a pleasant bitter taste, and may be eaten every day without cloying.  We used to boil these roots, and eat them as potatoes, either alone, or with our meat, and found them very wholesome and pleasant.  It has been already mentioned, that this useful plant grows also at Oonalashka, where the roots of it are used, and constitute a considerable part of their food, in like manner as in Kamtschatka.

The other plant alluded to is called the sweet grass; the botanical description is Heracleum Sibericum foliis pinnatis, foliolis quinis, intermediis sessilibus, corollulis uniformibus.  Hort.  Upsal. 65.  The time, I took particular notice of it, was in May, when it was about a foot and a half high, had much the appearance of sedge, and was covered with a white down, or dust, which looked exceedingly like the hoar frost hanging upon it, and might be rubbed off; it tasted as sweet as sugar; but was hot and pungent.  The stalk is hollow, and consists of three or four joints; from each of which arise large leaves, and when at its full growth, is six feet high.

This plant was formerly a principal ingredient in the cookery of most of the Kamtschadale dishes; but since the Russians got possession of the country, it has been almost entirely appropriated to the purpose of distillation.  The manner in which it is gathered, prepared, and afterward distilled, is as follows:—­Having cut such stalks as have leaves growing on them, of a proper age, (the principal stem, by the time the plant has attained its full growth, having become too dry for their purpose,) and scraped off with shells the downy substance on their surface, they are laid in small heaps, till they begin to sweat and smell.