countrymen: they may then come to China with a clear conscience, and preach reform to the poor opium-smoker.

Among other improvements in Java, its rulers have lately turned their attention to the cultivation of tea, and with considerable success so far as regards the quality, I have no means of ascertaining the quantity of tea at present produced yearly; but have no doubt it will, before long, become an important article of export from the Island.

Before quitting Java, I must say a word about the far-famed upas-tree. Such a tree certainly exists on the island; but the tales that are told of its poisoning the air for hundreds of yards round, so that birds dare not approach it, that vegetation is destroyed beneath its branches, and that man cannot come near it with impunity, are perfectly ridiculous. To prove their absurdity, a friend of mine climbed up a upas-tree, and passed two hours in its branches, where he took his lunch and smoked a cigar. The tree, however, does contain poison, and the natives extract the sap, with which they rub their spear and kriss blades: wounds inflicted with blades thus anointed, are mortal. Such I believe to be the origin of the many fabulous stories that have passed from hand to hand, and from generation to generation, about the upas-tree of Java.