27 
enveloped in a rich reddish pulp, which is very grateful to the 
palate of a European. 
Many other Bornean trees afford a sap, which probably possesses 
similar properties to the Gutta Percha. But till a less wasteful 
mode of procuring these substances is devised than the felling of 
the trees, it were no boon to the island to create a demand for 
them. 
The celebrated Upas, Antiaris Toxicaria, is found near Sariwak, 
but it is not common. One fine specimen, which Mr. Low ex- 
amined, grew to about sixty feet high. Its bark is white, and 
the stem is propped, as it were, below, with those processes 
resembling buttresses, which are common in the trees of tropical 
jungles. The poisonous juice exudes freely, when the bark is 
tapped; and the natives hold the Upas in much superstitious 
terror, though no authentic particulars exist of its injurious 
properties, unless when introduced into the circulation of the 
blood, when it seems undeniably among the most active of vege- 
table poisons. The tree is called Bina by the Borneans: Upas 
being a name they give to the sap itself, and to all vegetable 
poisons. E. 
Dammar is a resinous gum, afforded by many trees, differing 
from one another and from the Dammara orientalis of “ Marsden’s 
Sumatra.” This substance is applied to various purposes, 
caulking the seams of boats, and (when contained in Bamboos) 
for making torches: it gives a flaring and smoky light, and is 
chiefly used by the lowest classes. ; 
A wild kind of Cinnamon grows in Borneo, which considerably 
-Tesembles the true Cinnamon of Ceylon. It is not collected by 
the natives. 5 
Cotton is raised by the Dyaks for making their cloths, and a 
sample of it, sent home to Liverpool, was pronounced of excellent 
quality. It is likely that, in process of time, its culture will be 
advantageously pursued, from the facility of exportation to China. 
Pepper has long been exported in large quantities from several 
Bornean ports, especially Bruni; but, during the disturbances 
at the latter place, the trade has dwindled away, owing to the 
expulsion of the Chinese, who to the number, it is said, of 
30,000, employed themselves exclusively in rearing the spice. + 
It is a curious fact, observed by all writers on the productions 
of the East, that Pepper is universally esteemed, except by the 
people of the countries where it is grown. This remark holds 
good in Borneo, where its use in cookery is reprobated, and the 
Malays prefer a small kind of capsicum. In the beginning of 
is century, the district of Banjumasin alone, on the south 
