POISON TREE. 
318 
is this in the least degree surprising, when the cir- 
cumstances which we shall faithfully relate in this 
description are considered. 
“ I must acknowledge,” says M. Foersch, “ that 
I long doubted the existence of this tree, until a 
stricter inquiry convinced me of my error : I shall 
now only relate simple unadorned facts, of which I 
have been an eye-witness. My readers may de- 
pend upon the fidelity of this account. In the year 
1774, I was stationed at Batavia, as a surgeon in 
the service of the East India Company. During 
my residence there I received several different ac- 
counts of the Bohun-Upas, and the violent effects 
of its poison. They all then seemed incredible to 
me, but raised my curiosity in so high a degree, 
that I resolved to investigate this subject thoroughly, 
and to trust only to my own observations. In con- 
sequence of this resolution I applied to the gover- 
nor-general, Mr. Petrus Albertus van der Parra, for 
a pass to travel through the country : my request 
was granted ; and, having procured every informa- 
tion, I set out on my expedition. I had procured 
a recommendation from an old Malayan priest to 
another priest*. who lives on the nearest inhabitable 
spot to the tree, which is about fifteen or sixteen 
miles distant. The latter proved of great service to 
me in my undertaking, as that priest is appointed 
by the emperor to reside there, in order to prepare 
for eternity the souls of those who, for different 
crimes, are sentenced to approach the tree, and to 
procure the poison. 
