| OCR Text |
Show [ r86 which 1 have been an eyc-witnef.~. 1\'Iy readers may depend upon the fi~lelity of t~1is I account. n th e Ye.~. 1· 1774 ' I was fl:ationed at Batavia, as a furg.e on, 111 the .f ervicc of the Dutch Eafl:-India Company. During my refidence th~re I rece1ved feveral different accounts of the Bohon-U pas, and the violent effects of its poifon. They all the11 feemed incredible to me, but raifed my curiofity info high a degree, t~at I refolved to invcf1igate this fubjeet thoroughly, and to trufl: only to my own objerva/J ons. In confequence of this refollllion, I applied to the Governor-General, Mr. Petrus Albertus van der Parra, for a pafs to travel through the country: my .r:queft was granted; and, having procured every information, I fet out on my ex~edttwn. .1 had procured a re~ommcndation from an old l\tfalayan priefl: to another pnefl:, who hves on the nearefl: mhabitable fpot to the tree which is about fifteen or fix.tcen .mil:s difl:a~t. The letter proved of gre:~t fcrvi ce to me in my undertaking, as that pnefl: 1s appomted by the E~peror to refidc there, in order to prepare for eternity the fimls of thofe who for ddferent crimes arc fentcnced to approach the tree, and to procme the poifon, The BolJon-Upas is fituatcu in the il1anJ of Ja·va, a~out twenty-fevcn leagu~s from Batavia, fourteen from Soura-C!Jarta, the feat of the Emperor, and between ctghtee.n and twenty leagues from 'Tinljoe, the prefent refidence of. the Sultan of Java. It IS furrounded on all fiJes by :1 circle of high hills and moun tams; and the country round it, to the difl:ance of ten or twelve miles from the tree, is entirely barren. Not a tree nor a fhrub, nor even the leaft plant or grafs is to be feen. I have made:: the tour all around this dangerous fpot, at about eighteen miles difl:ant from the centre, and I ~oun.d the afpeet of the country on ::Ill fides equally dreary. T~1c eafiefl: afce1~t ?f the htlls IS from that part where the old ecclefiafl:ic dwells. ~ro~ lHS houfe the cr~m111als are .fent for the poifon, into which the points of all warltke mfl:ruments are d1pped. It LS of high value, and produces a conftderable revenue to the Emperor. Account of the manner in which the Poijon is proc~red. The poifon which is procured from this tree is a gum that iffues out between the bark and the tree itfelf, like the camphor. Malefatl:ors, who for their crimes are fentenced 10 die, are the only perfons who fetch the poifon; and this is the only cl~ance they have of faving their lives. After fcntcnce is pronounced upon them. by the JUdge, they arc a !ked in comt, whether they will die by the hands of the executiOner, or whether they will go to the Upas tree for a box of poifon? They co~n:only prefer }he lat~er pr~pofal, as th r<! is not only fam e chance of ~referving the1r ltvcs, .but alfo acert:un~y, m cafe of their [;.~fe return, that a provifion wtll be made for them 111 futme by the Emperor. They arc alfo permitted to alk a favour from the Emperor, which is generally of a trifling nature, and commonly granted. They are then provided with a fil~er or tortoifefhell box, in which they are to put the poifonous gum, and are properly mfl:rueted how to proceed while they are upon their dan?ero~s expeditio~. Among other particulars, they are always told to attend to the duetl:wn of the wmds; as they are to go towards the tree before the wind, fo that the effiuvia from the tree is always blown from them. They arc told likewife, to travel with the utmofl: difpatch, as that is the onlif m~thod of i~furing a fafe return. They are afterwards lent to the houfe of the old pnefl:, to whtch place they a.re commonly attenciecl by their friends and relations. Here t~ey generally ret~ain fome days, in expeCtation of a favourable breeze. During that tune the ecclefia(hc prepares them for their future fate by prayers and admonitions. When the hour of their departure arrives, the pri efl puts them on a long leathe ·-c • • . J .ap, With_ two glaffes _before t_heir eyes, whtch comes down as f;u as their breafl:; and alf'o provide~ th~m Wtth a patr. of leather-gloves. They arc then conduCted by the pricil, and the1r. fnends and rclatwns, about two miles on their journey; Here the pricfl repeats his inftru&ions, and tells them where they arc to look for the tree. IJe fh ews them a hill, which they are told to afcend, and that on the other ftde they will find:.~ rivulet, which they are to follow, and which will condutl: them direc:l:ly to the Upas. They now take leave of each other; and amidfl: prayers for their fucccls, the delinquents hafl:en away. The worthy old ecclefiafl:ic has affured me, that during his refidencc there, for upwards of thirty-years, l1e had difmiffed above feven hundred criminals in the manner which I have defcribed; and that fcarcely two out of twenty have returned. He fhewed me a catalogue of all the unhappy fuffercrs, with the JJtc KJf their departure from his houfe annexed; and a lifl: of the offences for which they had been condemned: t•> which was added, a lifl: of thofe who had returned in fafety. I afterwards f.·nv another lift of thcfe culprits, at the jail-keeper's at Soura-G1.,arta, and found th at they perfeCl: Iy correfponded with each other, and with the different informations which I afterwards obtained. I was prefent at fomc of thefe melancholy ceremonies, and defircd different delinquents to bring with them fome pieces of the wood, or a fmall branch, or fome leaves of this wonderful tree. I have alfo given them ftlk cords, defiring them to meafurc its thicknefs. I never could procure more than two dry leaves that were picked up by one of them on his return ; and all I could learn from him, concerning the tree itfelf~ was, that it fl:ood on a border of a rivulet, as defcribed by the old Priefl:; that it was of a middling fize; that five or fix young trees of the fame kind fl:ood clofe by it; but that no other 11uub or plant could be feen near it; and that the ground w::ts of a brownifh fand, full of fiones, almofl: impraCticable for travelling, and cQvered with dead bodies. After many converfations with the old Malayan priefl:, I qucf1ioned him about the firfl: difcovery, and afked his opinion of this dangerous tree; upon which he gave me the following anfwer: " W e are told in our new Alcoran, that, above an hundred years ago) the country tc around the tree was inhabited by a people fl:rongly addiCled to the fins of Sodom and " Gomorrah; when the great prophet Mahomet determined not to fuftcr them to lead " fuch detefl:able lives any longer, he applied to God to puni!h them: upon which God caufcd this tree to grow out of the earth, which dcfhoyed them all, and rendered " the country for ever uninhabitable." Such was the Malayan opinion . I {hall not attempt a comment; but mufl: obfcrvc, that all the Malayans confider this tree as an holy inHrument of the great prophet to .l3b2 |
