eyes and the strife continuing before them, but conscious,
contented, and even joyous at knowing they still lived, and that the
time had not yet come for them to die.

They no longer blamed the hornbill for what had happened. The cause was
in their own carelessness or imprudence; for Captain Redwood knew the
upas-tree, and was well aware of its dangerous properties to those
venturing into too close proximity. He had seen it in other islands;
for it grows not only in Java, with which its name is more familiarly
identified, but in Bali, Celebes, and Borneo. He had seen it elsewhere,
and heard it called by different names, according to the different
localities, as _tayim, hippo, upo, antijar_, and _upas_; all signifying
the same thing--the "tree of poison."

Had he been more careful about the selection of their camping-place, and
looked upon its smooth reddish or tan-coloured bark and closely-set
leaves of glossy green, he would have recognised and shunned it. He did
not do so; for who at such a time could have been thinking of such a
catastrophe? Under a tree whose shade seemed so inviting, who would
have suspected that danger was lurking, much less that death dwelt among
its leaves and branches?

The first had actually arisen, and the last had been very near. But it
was now far away, or at least no longer to be dreaded from the poison of
the upas. The sickness caused by it would continue for a while, and it
might be some time before their strength or energies would be fully
restored. But of dying there was no danger, as the poison of the upas
does not kill, when only inhaled as a vapour; unless the inhalation be a
long time continued. Its sap taken internally, by the chewing of its
leaves, bark, or root, is certain death, and speedy death. It is one of
the ingredients used by the Bornean Dyaks for tipping their poisoned
spears, and the arrows of their _sumpitans_ or blow-guns. They use it
in combination with the _bina_, another deadly poison, extracted from
the juice of a parasitical plant found everywhere through the forests of
Borneo.

It is singular that the upas-tree should belong to the same natural
order, the Artocarpaceae, as the bread-fruit; the tree of death thus
being connected with the tree of life. In some of the Indian islands it
is called _Popon-upas_; in Java it is known as the _Antijar_.

Its leaves are shaped like spear-heads; the fruit is a kind of drupe,
clothed in fleshy scales.

Th