POISON TREE. 
329 
and most violent of all vegetable poisons ; and I am 
apt to believe that it greatly contributes to the un- 
healthiness of that island. Nor is this the only evil 
attending it : hundreds of the natives of Java, as 
well as Europeans, are yearly destroyed and treach- 
erously murdered by that poison, either internally 
or externally. Every man of quality or fashion has 
his dagger or other arms poisoned with it ; and in 
times of war, the Malayans poison the springs and 
other waters with it : by this treacherous practice 
the Dutch suffered greatly during the last war, as it 
occasioned the loss of half their army. For this 
reason they have ever since kept fish in the springs 
of which they drink the water, and sentinels are 
placed near them, who inspect the waters every 
hour, to see whether the fish are alive. If they 
march with an army or body of troops into an 
enemy’s country, they always carry live fish with 
them, which they throw into the water some hours 
before they venture to drink it ; by which means 
they have been able to prevent their total destruc- 
tion. This account, I flatter myself, will satisfy the 
curiosity of my readers ; and the few facts which I 
have related will be considered as a certain proof of 
the existence of this pernicious tree, and its pene- 
trating effects. 
“ If it be asked why we have not yet any more 
satisfactory accounts of this tree, I can only answer, 
that the object of most travellers in that part of the 
world consists more in commercial pursuits than in 
the study of natural history and the advancement 
