BOOTAN, or BUTAAN, a province dependant on Thibet, and situated between that country and Bengal. , The limits of this province are not• accu.' rately ascertained. Paridrong; and the chain of mountains near it, were supposed to have been the boundary between Bengal and Thibet ; but it al); pears from later authorities, that they form the boun-: dary between Thibet and Bootan. This country abounds with lofty mountains, covered with eternal verdure. Rich orchards, fertile fields, and thriving villages, crown their while forests of lofty trees rise at their Bootan is -bounded on the south, by a ridge of ,mountains; which, in the ,space of fifteen miles,• rise the.perpendicular height of one mile and.a half from the:plains of .Bengal.. The few passes that this chain are strongly fortified, . and ,the• road 'to Tassasudon, the capital of Bootan, is over the rugged sumniits of high mountains and dangerous precipices. In ad vancing still farther into the interior,, we.'meet with
another lofty eli-ain:Of ,monntains. called Rimola,,' or Ilinunalehi. which is 'seen at,,the distance of 150 miles. -This .chain-runs between Tas sasudon-and Paridrong, and the mountains are suppo Sed to exceed in height even the higheit of the Andes.. Mr Turner is of opinion, that iron, and a small portion of copper, are the only metals, in 'this province. The inhabitants of Bootan are supposed to have a nearer a'ffinity to the Chinese than to theiHiruloos. • They carry on a considerable".Commere With thepeopk of Sirinagur. They. hring AO: that caiintrY...•tOCki.salt borax, and 'carry back in ex change the sale which is brought from Lahore, .and is Lam hooree. For a more.cornplete account Of„.this pro vince, see Turner's; Account of an 'Embassy,to tha ,Court of the Teshoo Lama in Thibet. See also Cap-, dVarrativd Y;I:(.1Ozirticg to Sirinagiir in the Asiatic Researches,' vol.,vi.' 569: and TIIIBET. (II). k