COASTS OF AUSTRALIA. 
131 
powder might induce him to commit any mischie- 1818. 
vous act to obtain it. The mountaineers are de- June . 
5 
scribed to be a warlike race of men, but since the 
cession of the island to the Dutch by the King 
of Ternate, to whom it appears to have originally 
belonged, they are distributed under the sove- 
reignty of different rajahs, to whom they pay im- 
plicit obedience ; and are, in fact, little better 
than mere slaves. On all parts of the coast good 
wholesome water may be procured, excepting at 
Sesally on the north coast, where it is said to be 
of a noxious quality, occasioned by a tree or 
plant that grows on its banks, and taints the 
stream. Whatever suspicion there may be at- 
tached to the truth of this story, there is no 
doubt of its being far from wholesome ; for it is 
avoided, as poisonous, by the people who reside 
near it. I was curious to discover whether it 
was occasioned by its flowing near one of the 
far famed Poison tre£s ( upas antiar) of Java, 
but my informant could not satisfy my inquiry. 
The island is very mountainous, and some of 
its summits, as Captain Flinders observes, may 
probably rival the Peak of Teneriffe. The country 
slopes off towards the sea, and appears to be fer- 
tile and populous. The recesses of the mountains 
and the rivulets that derive their sources from 
them are said to be rich in gold and silver, 
K 2 ' 
