“ judge pafled fentence upon them, by which they are doomed
“ to fufFer death by a lancet poifoned with Upas. After this the
“ Alcoran was prefented to them, and they were, according to
“ the law o f their great prophet Mahomet, to acknowlege, and'
“ to affirm by oath, that the chargés brought againfl: them,.
“ together with the fentence and their punilhment, were fafr
“ ahd equitable. This they did by laying their right hand upon
“ the Alcoran, their left hands upon their breafts, and their eyes
“ lifted towards heaven; the judge then held the Alcoran to
“ their lips, and they kiffed it.
“ T h è s e ceremonies over, the executioner proceeded on his
“ buftnefs in the following manner :— Thirteen pofts, each about
“ five feet high, had been previoufly erected, to thefe the de-
“ linquents were fattened, and their breafts ftripped naked.. In
** this fituation they remained a- ihort time in continual prayers,
“ attended by feveral priefts, until a lignai was given by the
“ judge to the executioner, on which the latter produced an in-
“ ftrument, much like the fpring lancet ufed by farriers for
“ bleeding horfes. With this inftrument, it being poifoned with
“ the gum of the Upas, the unhappy wretches were lanced in
“ the middle o f their breafts, and the operation was performed
if upon them all in lefs than two minutes.
“ My aftonifhment was raifed to the higheff degree, when I
“ beheld the fudden effects o f that poifon, for in about five mi-
“ nutes after they were lanced, they were taken with a tremor,
“ attended with a Jubfidtus tendinum, after which they died in
“ the greateft agonies, crying out to GOD and Mahomet for
u mercy. In fixteen minutes by my watch, which I held in
“ my hand, all the criminals were no more ; fome hours after
“ their
** their death, I obferved their bodies full o f livid fpots,-
“ much like thofe of the Petechioe, their faces fwelled, their
“ color changed to a kind o f blue, their eye? looked yellow,
“ See. Sec ;
T h i s tree did not efcape the notice of our great Sir John
Mandeville-, he makes the poifon produced from it to be taken
inwardly. I ihall give his words, and alfo.the horrible opinion
held at that time, againfl: the Hebreean race, whom he accufes of
a defign o f poifoning all Chriftendom with this infernal juice.
After fpeaking o f the trees o f beneficent ufe, he fays +, “ and
“ there ben other trees that beryn venym ; azenft the whiche
“ there is no medicyne but o n ; and that is to taken here
propre leves, and ftamp hem and tempere hem with watre,
“ and than drynke i t ; and elle he fchalle d y e ; for triacle will
“ not avaylle, ne non other medicyne. Ofjthis venym the Jewes
“ had let feche o f on o f here frendes, for to empoyfone alle
“ Chriftiantee, as I have herd hem feye in here confeflioune,
“ before here dyenge. But thanked be alle myghty God, thei
« fayleden o f hire purpos ; but alle weys thei maken gret mor-
“ tallitee of people.”
In refpect to the other trees and plants o f Java, I can
only fay that they agree with thofe of Sumatra, and other iilands
of the great Archipelago. Moft will be found in my Flora Indica.
Let me only remark, that the earlieft Dutch navigators have
* Though the recent information obtained in the courfe of Lord Macartneys embafly to
China, vol, i. p, 272, totally invalidates the authority of Foerfch, yet it appears evident that
trees of a moft deleterious nature, and produ&ive of the moft a&ive poifons, really exift in Java,
Such alfo was the opinion of the author of this work, whofe depth of judgment placed him far
remote from the imputation of credulity j I have therefore ventured, as in other jnftances, to
publifh a faithful copy of the original manufcript. E.
f Travels, p, 229.
H a given