hs
their number was reduced to about three hundred. The chiefs of those
who remained returned to the Massay, informed him of their losses,
and intreated his pardon, which induced him to receive them again as
subjects, thinking them sufficiently punished for their misconduct. I
have seen and conversed with several of those who survived soon after
their return. They all had the appearance of persons tainted with an
infectious disorder; they looked pale and weak, and from the account
which they gave of the loss of their comrades, of the symptoms and
circumstances which attended their dissolution, such as convulsions, and
other signs of a violent death, I was fully convinced that they fell
victims to the poison.

This violent effect of the poison at so great a distance from the tree,
certainly appears surprising, and almost incredible; and especially when
we consider that it is possible for delinquents who approach the tree to
return alive. My wonder, however, in a great measure, ceased, after I had
made the following observations:

I have said before, that malefactors are instructed to go to the tree
with the wind, and to return against the wind. When the wind continues to
blow from the same quarter while the delinquent travels thirty, or six
and thirty miles, if he be of a good constitution, he certainly survives.
But what proves the most destructive is, that there is no dependence on
the wind in that part of the world for any length of time.--There are no
regular land-winds; and the sea-wind is not perceived there at all, the
situation of the tree being at too great a distance, and surrounded by
high mountains and uncultivated forests. Besides, the wind there never
blows a fresh regular gale, but is commonly merely a current of light,
soft breezes, which pass through the different openings of the adjoining
mountains. It is also frequently difficult to determine from what part of
the globe the wind really comes, as it is divided by various obstructions
in its passage, which easily change the direction of the wind, and often
totally destroy its effects.

I, therefore, impute the distant effects of the poison, in a great
measure, to the constant gentle winds in those parts, which have not
power enough to disperse the poisonous particles. If high winds are more
frequent and durable there, they would certainly weaken very much, and
even destroy the obnoxious effluvia of the poison; but without them, the
air remains infeste