ttom, and there issued from it a white viscous fluid, which the
natives asserted to be a virulent poison, and used by them for dipping
the points of their arrows. We carried off a bottle of this poison, and
having drunk from the fountain beneath the tree, without fear and
without injury, we went away. This was the only specimen of the upas
tree that I saw in Borneo. The lower orders at Bruni, in addition to a
jacket and trousers, wear an immense straw hat of a conical shape, with
a brim as wide as an umbrella. This hat, unless thrown back on the
shoulders, entirely conceals the face. At times, when the river is
crowded with canoes, nothing is to be seen but a mass of these straw
hats, which present a very strange appearance. But the greatest novelty
at Bruni is the floating bazaar. There are no shops in the city, and the
market is held every day in canoes. These come in at sunrise every
morning from every part of the river, laden with fresh fruit, tobacco,
pepper, and every other article which is produced in the vicinity; a few
European productions, such as handkerchiefs, check-cotton prints, &c.,
also make their appearance. Congregated in the main street the canoes
are tacked together, forming lanes through which the purchasers, in
their own canoes, paddle, selecting and bargaining for their goods with
as much convenience as if the whole was transacted on terra firma. Iron
is here so valuable that it is used as money. One hundred flat pieces an
inch square are valued at a dollar, and among the lower classes these
iron pieces form the sole coin. They are unstamped, so that every person
appears to be at liberty to cut his own iron into money; but whether
such is really the case I cannot vouch.

We remained at Bruni for a week, during which time a great deal of
diplomatic duty was got through by the seniors of the party, leaving the
juniors to amuse themselves with discovering fresh objects of interest,
and illustrating every thing worthy of notice.

Our whole party met every evening at the small house which had been
appropriated for our use by the sultan. It staggered fearfully upon its
wooden legs under our accumulated weight, and we constantly expected
that we should be let down into the water. Here we dined and passed the
evening in conversation, with our arms all ready at hand, guns and
pistols loaded, and the boats anchored close along side of us, in case
of any treachery. Every day an interview was had with the sul