CHARLES WATERTON, ESQ. IxXV 
ginal. Not long ago, a gentleman was here, and 
begged a small portion of it, as he said that the 
savans of Paris had lately tried some Indian poison, 
but without effect. I complied with his request; 
and, on opening the wax in which the poison is 
enclosed, I found it quite soft, and ready for use ; 
although it had not been looked at for above twenty 
years. If any farmer should have one of his herd 
bitten by a mad dog, I would willingly repair to the 
spot, and try the effect of the poison on the animal. 
I am fully aware that certain statements in the 
Wanderings have procured me the honour of being 
thought nearly connected with the Munchausen 
family. Unenviable is the lot of him whose narra- 
tives are disbelieved merely for want of sufficient 
faith in him who reads them. If those who have 
called my veracity in question would only have the 
manliness to meet me, and point out any passage 
in the book which they consider contradictory or 
false, I would no longer complain of unfair treatment. 
If they can show that I have deviated from the line 
of truth in one single solitary instance, I will con- 
sent to be called an impostor ; and then may the 
Wanderings be trodden under foot, and be forgotten 
for ever. 
Some people imagine that I have been guilty 
of a deception in placing the nondescript as a 
frontispiece to the book. Let me assure these 
worthies that they labour under a gross mistake. 
I never had the slightest intention to act so dis- 
honourable a part. I purposely involved the frontis- 
piece in mystery, on account of the illiberality 
