ed for economical and medical purposes:
the tree is called Tong-tsin. Description of China, Vol. I. p. 230.

_Description of the Poison-Tree in the Island of JAVA. Translated from
the original Dutch of_ N. P. Foerich.

This destructive tree is called in the Malayan language _Bohon-Upas,_
and has been described by naturalists; but their accounts have been
so tinctured with the _marvellous,_ that the whole narration has been
supposed to be an ingenious fiction by the generality of readers. Nor
is this in the least degree surprising, when the circumstances which we
shall faithfully relate in this description are considered.

I must acknowledge, that I long doubted the existence of this tree, until
a stricter enquiry convinced me of my error. I shall now only relate
simple unadorned facts, of which I have been an eye-witness. My readers
may depend upon the fidelity of this account. In the year 1774 I was
stationed at Batavia, as surgeon, in the service of the Dutch East-India
Company. During my residence there I received several different accounts
of the Bohon Upas, and the violent effects of its poison. They all then
seemed incredible to me, but raised my curiosity in so high a degree,
that I resolved to investigate this subject thoroughly, and to trust only
to _my own observations._ In consequence of this resolution, I applied to
the Governor-General, Mr. Petrus Albertus van der Parra, for a pass to
travel through the country: my request was granted; and, having procured
every information. I set out on my expedition. I had procured a
recommendation from an old Malayan priest to another priest, who lives
on the nearest inhabitable spot to the tree, which is about fifteen or
sixteen miles distant. The letter proved of great service to me in my
undertaking, as that priest is appointed by the Emperor to reside there,
in order to prepare for eternity the souls of those who for different
crimes are sentenced to approach the tree, and to procure the poison.

The _Bohon-Upas_ is situated in the island of _Java,_ about twenty-seven
leagues from _Batavia,_ fourteen from _Soura Charta,_ the seat of the
Emperor, and between eighteen and twenty leagues from _Tinksor,_ the
present residence of the Sultan of Java. It is surrounded on all sides by
a circle of high hills and mountains; and the country round it, to the
distance of ten or twelve miles from the tree, is entirely barren. Not
a tree, nor a shrub, nor even the least plant o