334 A MISSION TO VITI. 



Viti Levu, but I have not been able to learn whether 

 the natives are aware of its containing strychnine. A 

 kind of Upas tree (Antiaris Bennettii, Seem.), commonly 

 termed " Mavu ni Toga," probably because it has been 

 introduced from the Tonga islands, was formerly planted 

 about heathen temples, and is even now to be found in 

 towns and villages. It is a middle-sized tree, with a 

 thick crown of dark foliage, oblong glossy leaves, and a 

 fleshy fruit of the size of an apricot, covered with a vel- 

 vety skin of a most beautiful crimson colour. A gum 

 exuding from the stem and branches is used for arrows. 

 The exact nature of its poisonous properties has not 

 yet been ascertained. That they are not equal to those 

 ascribed to the true Upas tree of Java (Antiaris toxi- 

 caria, Leschen.) is proved by the manner in which the 

 natives handle it ; but it is impossible to say whether 

 one of the reasons for its cultivation near temples, and 

 its probable introduction from Tonga, may not be found 

 in its yielding a poison of which the heathen priests 

 may have occasionally made use. Sir E. Home gathered 

 it in Wallis Island, and Dr. Bennett, of Sydney, found 

 it cultivated in Tucopia for making bark-cloth. 



Amongst the trees most dreaded by the natives on 

 account of their noxious qualities, the Kau Karo, lite- 

 rally itch-wood, occupies a prominent place, and seems 

 to act somewhat like Ehus venenata or Semecarpus Ana- 

 cardium. Mr. Pritchard and myself first heard of its 

 existence during our visit to the southern shores of 

 Viti Levu, in July, 1860, and on the banks of a river 

 were fortunate enough to obtain specimens of the tree, 

 proving it to be the Oncocarpus Vitiensis, A. Gray = 



