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to kill animals traversing it. Here may be found the 

 bodies of civet-cats, squirrels, birds, etc., and, at the' time 

 when Junghuhn wrote, of tigers and rhinoceroses. The 

 fabulous stories of the deadly " Upas tree," which was 

 said to destroy all creatures which slept beneath its 

 shade, or any birds which flew over it, have originated 

 in the word " upas " (poison) being applied to these 

 places, and also to a tree — Antiaris toxiearia — which, 

 though poisonous, has none of the deadly properties 

 above mentioned. An analogous phenomenon is a lake 

 in the crater of Taschem, in eastern Java, which is so 

 strongly impregnated with sulphuric acid that no fish 

 can live in it, or in the river which flows from it, and 

 where the river empties itself into the sea it destroys or 

 drives away all fish for a considerable distance. Jets or 

 fountains of inflammable gas in one locality, at least, 

 point to the existence of considerable quantities of 

 petroleum. Brine springs are very numerous, especially 

 in the province of Japara, where they are dispersed 

 through a district several miles in circumference, forcing 

 themselves upwards through apertures in the rocks with 

 some violence and ebullition. The salt obtained by 

 evaporation from these springs is of very fair quality. 

 In this same district of Grobogan are some curious mud 

 volcanoes which have been described by Dr. Horsfield as 

 follows : — ■ 



" About the centre of this limestone district is found 

 an extraordinary volcanic phenomenon. On approaching 

 it from a distance, it is first discovered by large volumes 

 of smoke rising and disappearing at intervals of a few 

 seconds, resembling the vapours arising from a violent 

 surf, while a dull noise is heard like that of distant 

 thunder. Having advanced so near that the vision is no 

 longer impeded by the smoke, a large hemispherical mass 



