CBLBBEATED TEEES. 211 



stationed at Batavia in tlie year 1774. Surprising, 

 however, as these accounts may be, they are ac- 

 companied with so many pubUc facts and names 

 of persons and places, that it is somewhat difficult 

 to conceive them fabulous. The abridged narra- 

 tive of this strange production is this. 



The Upas grows about, twenty-seven leagues 

 from Batavia, in a plain surrounded by rocky 

 mountains ; the whole of which plain, containing 

 a circle of ten or twelve miles round the tree, is 

 totally barren. Nothing that breathes or vege- 

 tates can live within its influence. The bird, that 

 flies over it, drops down dead. The beast, that 

 wanders into it, expires. The whole dreadful 

 area is covered with sand, over which lie scattered 

 loose flints and whitening bones. This tree may 

 be called the emperor's great military magazine. 

 In a solution of the poisonous gum which exudes 

 from it, his arrows and offensive weapons arei 

 dipped. The procuring, therefore, of this poi- 

 sonous gum, is a matter of as much attention as 

 of difficulty. Criminals only are employed in this 

 dreadful service. Of these, several, every year, 

 are sent with a promise of pardon and reward, if 



2 



