POISON-Tree

POISON-Tree. See RHUS, BOTANY INDEX.

POISON-Tree of Java, called in the Malayan language bohun upar, is a tree which has often been described by naturalists; but its existence has been very generally doubted, and the descriptions given of it, containing much of the marvellous, have been often treated as idle fictions. N. P. Foersch, however, in an account of it, written in Dutch, asserts that it does exist; and

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tells us, that he once doubted it as much as any person; but, determined not to trust general opinions, he made the most particular inquiries possible; the result of which was, that he found that it is situated in the island of Java, about 27 leagues from Batavia, 14 from Soura Charta, the emperor's seat, and about 19 from Tinkjoe, the residence of the sultan of Java. It is surrounded on all sides by hills and mountains, and the adjacent country for 12 miles round the tree is totally barren. Our author says he has gone all round the spot at about 18 miles from the centre, and on all sides he found the country equally dreary, which he ascribes to its noxious effluvia. The poison procured from it is a gum, issuing from between the bark and the tree; and it is brought by malefactors who have been condemned to death, but who are allowed by this alternative to have a chance for their life. An old ecclesiastic, our author informs us, dwelt on the outside of the surrounding hills, whose business it was to prepare the criminals for their fate, if death should be the consequence of their expedition. And indeed so fatal are its effluvia, that he acknowledged that scarcely two out of 20 returned from above 700 whom he had dismissed.

Mr Foersch farther tells us, that he had seen several of the criminals who had returned, and who told him, that the tree stands on the borders of a rivulet, is of a middling size, and that five or six young ones of the same kind stand close to it. They could not, however, see any other plant or shrub near it; and the ground was of brownish sand, full of stones and dead bodies, and difficult to pass. The Malaysans think this tract was thus rendered noxious and uninhabitable by the judgement of God, at Mahomet's desire, on account of the sins of the inhabitants. No animal whatever is ever seen there; and such as get there by any means never return, but have been brought out dead by such of the criminals as have themselves escaped death.

Our author relates a circumstance which happened in the year 1775, to about 400 families (1600 souls), who refused to pay some duty to the emperor, and who were in consequence declared rebels and banished; they petitioned for leave to settle in the uncultivated parts round Upas: the consequence of which was, that in less than two months their number was reduced to about 300 souls, who begged to be reconciled to the emperor, and were again received under his protection. Many of these survivors Mr Foersch saw, and they had just the appearance of persons tainted with an infectious disorder.

With the juice of this tree arrows, lancets, and other offensive weapons, are poisoned. With lancets thus poisoned, Mr Foersch observes, that he saw 13 of the emperor's concubines executed for infidelity to his bed in February 1776. They were lanced in the middle of their breasts; in five minutes after which they were seized with a tremor and subfultus tendinum, and in 15 minutes they were dead. Their bodies were full of livid spots, like those of petechiae, their faces swelled, colour blue, and eyes yellow, &c. Soon after he saw seven Malaysans executed in the same way, and saw the same effects follow; on which he resolved to try it on other animals, and found the operation similar on three puppies, a cat, and a fowl, none of which survived more than 13 minutes. He also tried its effects

internally on a dog seven months old; the animal became delirious, was seized with convulsions, and died in half an hour. From all which our author concludes, that it is the most violent of all vegetable poisons, and that it contributes greatly to the unhealthiness of the island in which it grows. By means of it many cruel and treacherous murders are perpetrated. He adds, that there exists a sort of cajoe-upas on the coast of Macassar, the poison of which, though not near so violent or malignant, operates nearly in the same manner.

Most of our readers will probably consider this whole account as highly incredible; but we have to add, that it has been directly controverted in all its parts in a memoir of Lambert Nollst, M. D. fellow of the Batavian Experimental Society at Rotterdam, (see Gentleman's Mag. May 1794, p. 433.). This memoir was procured from John Matthew à Rhyn, who had been 23 years, from 1763 to 1786, resident in the island, and therefore had every opportunity of informing himself on the spot. In this memoir we are told, that Foersch's account of the tree is extremely suspicious, from a variety of circumstances: 1. Though he had letters of introduction, he went to no considerable house, and afterwards privately withdrew among the English. 2. When the emperor was asked respecting Foersch, and the facts he relates, he answered, that he had never heard either of him or of the tree. 3. The distances given to mark the situation of the tree are not accurate. 4. The execution of criminals is different from what he represents. 5. The circumstance of several criminals returning when Foersch was there, has a suspicious appearance. 6. There exists no such tradition, as that the tree was placed there by Mahomet. 7. There were no such disturbances in 1775 as Foersch represents, the tract to which he alludes having submitted to the Dutch East India Company as early as 1756. 8. The island is not unhealthy, as Foersch asserts; nor are violent or premature deaths frequent. 9. The Javanese are a curious and intelligent people, and of course could not be so ignorant of this tree if it had any existence. 10. The assertions and pretended facts of Foersch have no collateral evidence; and every thing which we gather from the accounts of others, or from the history of the people, invalidates them. For these and other reasons, Dr Nollst concludes, that very little credit is due to the representations of Foersch, and that the island of Java produces no such tree, which, if it really grew there, would be the most remarkable of all trees.

We must notice also, that the account of this very remarkable tree has been still farther controverted by Sir George Staunton, who, during his stay at Batavia, made the most particular inquiries concerning it, and found, that the existence of such a tree had never been known there. (Embassy to China). The fabulous history of this tree, however, has produced a most beautiful description from the muse of Dr Darwin, whose harmonious verses on the subject we shall present to our readers.

Where seas of glass with gay reflections smile
Round the green coasts of Java's palmy isle,
A spacious plain extends its upland scene,
Rocks rise on rocks, and fountains gush between;
Soft.

Soft zephyrs blow, eternal summers reign,
And showers prolific bless the soil,—in vain!
—No spicy nutmeg scents the vernal gales,
Nor towering plantain shades the mid-day vales;
No grassy mantle hides the sable hills,
No flowery chaplet crowns the trickling rills;
Nor tufted moss, nor leathery lichen creeps
In russet tapestry o'er the crumbling steep.
—No step retreating, on the sand impress'd,
Invites the visit of a second guest;
No resurgent sin the unpeopled stream divides,
No revolant pinion cleaves the airy tides;
Nor handed moles, nor beaked worms return,
That mining pass the irremediable bourn.—
Fierce in dread silence on the blasted heath
Fell Uras fits, the HYDRA-TREE of death.
Lo! from one root, the envenom'd soil below,
A thousand vegetative serpents grow;
In shining rays the scaly monster spreads
O'er ten square leagues his far-diverging heads;
Or in one trunk entwists his tangled form,
Looks o'er the clouds, and hisses in the storm.
Steep'd in fell poison, as his sharp teeth part,
A thousand tongues in quick vibration dart;
Snatch the proud eagle towering o'er the heath,
Or pounce the lion, as he stalks beneath;
Or strew, as marshall'd hosts contend in vain,
With human skeletons the whiten'd plain.
—Chain'd at his root two scion-demons dwell,
Breathe the faint hiss, or try the shriller yell;
Rise fluttering in the air on callow wings,
And aim at insect-prey their little flings.

Loves of the Plants, canto iii.