"Look up there!" said the botanist, pointing to a tall pine that grew
near. "See those large cones. Inside them we shall obtain seeds, as
large as pistachio-nuts, and very good to eat. By roasting them, we can
make an excellent substitute for bread."

"Ha, indeed!" exclaimed Caspar, "that is a pine-tree. What large cones!
They are as big as artichokes. What sort of pine is it, brother?"

"It is one of the kind known as the `edible pines,' because their seeds
are fit for food. It is the species called by botanists _Pinus
Gerardiana_, or the `neosa' pine. There are pines whose seeds are
eatable in other parts of the world, as well as in the Himalaya
Mountains,--for instance, the _Pinus cembra_ of Europe, the `ghik' of
Japan, the `Lambert' pine of California, and several species in New
Mexico, known among the people as `pinon' trees. So you perceive that
besides their valuable timber--to say nothing of their pitch,
turpentine, and resin--the family of the pines also furnishes food to
the human race. We shall get some bread from those cones whenever we
desire it!"

So saying, Karl continued on in the direction of the lake.

"There again!" said he, pointing to a gigantic herbaceous plant,
"rhubarb, you see!"

It was, in fact, the true rhubarb, which grows wild among the Himalaya
Mountains, and whose great broad red-edged leaves, contrasting with its
tall pyramid of yellow bracts, render it one of the most striking and
beautiful of herbaceous plants. Its large acid stems--which are hollow
and full of pure water--are eaten by the natives of the Himalayas, both
raw and boiled, and its leaves when dried are smoked as tobacco. But
there was a smaller species that grew near, which Ossaroo said produced
much better tobacco; and Ossaroo was good authority, since he had
already dried some of the leaves, and had been smoking them ever since
their arrival in the valley. In fact, Ossaroo was quite out of
betel-nut, and suffered so much from the want of his favourite
stimulant, that he was glad to get any thing to smoke; and the "chula,"
or wild rhubarb-leaves, answered his purpose well. Ossaroo's pipe was
an original one certainty; and he could construct one in a few minutes.
His plan was to thrust a piece of stick into the ground, passing it
underneath the surface--horizontally for a few inches, and then out
again--so as to form a double orifice to the hole. At one end of this
channel he would insert a small joint