320 
VOYAGE OF THE POTOMAC. 
[March, 
nearly horizontally, with several irregular curves, divided into 
smaller branches, and form a hemispherical, not very regular, 
crown. ' It delights in a fertile, not very elevated soil, and is only 
found in the largest forests. One of the experiments to be related 
below was made with the upas prepared by myself. In the 
collection of the juice I had some difficulty in inducing the in- 
habitants to assist me ; they feared a cutaneous eruption and in- 
flammation, resembling (according to the account they gave of it) 
that produced by the ingas of this island, the rhusvernixof Japan, 
and the rhus radicans of North America. The anchar, like the 
trees in its neighbourhood, is on all sides surrounded by shrubs 
and plants : in no instance have I observed the ground naked or 
barren in its immediate circumference. The largest tree I met 
with in Balambangan was so closely environed by the common 
trees and shrubs of the forest in which it grew, that it was with 
difficulty I could approach it. Several vines and climbing shrubs,: 
in complete health and vigour, adhered to it, and ascended to nearly 
half its height ; and at the time I visited the tree and collected 
the juice, I was forcibly struck with the egregious misrepresenta- 
tion of Foersch. Several young trees, spontaneously sprung from 
seeds that had fallen from the parent, put me in mind of a line in 
Darwin's Botanic Garden : — - 
" ' Chained at his root two scion-demons dwell ;' 
while in recalling his beautiful description of the upas, my 
vicinity to the tree gave me reason to rejoice that it was founded 
in fiction." ^ 
Of the animal kingdom, Java has her full share, proportioned' 
to the size of the island. Among the beasts of prey are found 
several species of tiger, the leopard, the wild-cat, the jackal, and 
several varieties of the wild-dog. Also, the rhinoceros, andenor-- 
mous large alligators, which deserve the name of crocodiles. 
These abound in the rivers, and are such objects of terror to the 
natives, that like their reputed progenitors, the Egyptians, they 
pay them adoration. That species of the boa-constrictor called 
the anaconda is also said to be found in the forests, some of them 
thirty feet in length, which suspend themselves from trees and 
swallow young buffaloes and wild-dogs whole. The woods also 
abound with hedgehogs, squirrels, weasels, lizards, and various 
