Introduction

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Sabina Fazli
was, as such, thought to be harmful to Europeans. The land itself, it was believed,
produces sicknesses and tropical plants which yield lethal poisons. The inhabitants,
naturally and inevitably, use these poisons while it was thought that the use
of Oriental poison by Englishmen was very unusual. This view of the poisonous
East was so pervasive that scientific texts of the time frequently cite an undetectable
Indian poison, the perfect but imaginary weapon for professional murder
(Harris 447; 450). It was especially India that served to supply hideous and secret
ways to commit murder (Reitz 25). Again, the influence of Meadow Taylor’s Confessions
of a Thug (1839) and his depiction of the strangling and secretive sect might
have reinforced the image of deceitful and skilled murderers. This notion is combined
with the general perception of India as naturally unhealthy for Europeans.
The definitive association of poison with the Other is evident at the scene of
Sholto’s murder in The Sign of Four. Holmes’ reasoning depends on the assumption
that no Englishman would commit a murder using such an Oriental weapon as
Tonga’s poisoned arrow. The identification of the poison with the land it comes
from is apparent, as in Jonathan Small’s account the Andamans are described as
“dreary, fever-stricken” (Doyle, Sign 226), surrounded by shark-infested waters
(186), and Tonga is “as venomous as a young snake” (231). Thus, naturally, it is he
who brings the deadly poison to England.
Another case of poisoning can be found in “The Rajah’s Diamond”. John
Vandeleur, who has been introduced as completely reckless in the hunt for diamonds,
poisons Simon Rolles to steal the Rajah’s Diamond (115). It is suggested
that John Vandeleur has not only acquired riches in the colonies but also poison
and, more importantly, the inclination to use it. The “transmission pattern” (Harris
452) is the same as in many Sherlock Holmes stories which revolve around the
return of Englishmen from the colony, who bring with them an exotic poison and
a mind to use it. This is attributed to their prolonged contact with an alien and
corrupting environment. The other culture is thus presented as both morally and
physically unhealthy (452). The motive for both the murder of Bartholomew
Sholto and the poisoning of Simon Rolles is greed for the Indian diamond. The
influence of the diamond on the mind has already been described in terms of a
poison (Stevenson, “Rajah’s” 97) and subsequently leads to poisoning, presumably
with an Oriental toxic.
There is yet another way to link poison and diamonds: in their respective connections
to alchemy. It has been suggested that, in earlier times, Indians considered
diamonds to be poisonous when swallowed (King 37). Transmitted to
Europe in the Middle Ages, this lore was turned upside down and diamonds were
used as a cure against poison. C.W. King, Collins’ source, reiterates the ancient
association of diamonds and alchemy (Hennelly 31) (King 6; 10) which must have
arisen from these earlier beliefs. The texts, consequently, link diamonds and chemistry
as in John Herncastle who intends to found a professorship of experimental
chemistry, should the Moonstone be cut up (Collins, Moonstone 47) (Thomas 72).