LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 45 



carriage, so I immediately mounted on the wheel to see what was 

 the matter. As bad luck would have it, I came in contact with the 

 window, and smashed the glass : two pieces of the pane, an inch 

 long, penetrated a little above the cap of the left knee, on the inner 

 side, and broke short off. This was at ten o'clock of the night. I 

 put my thumb firmly on the wound, until the Captain had brought one 

 of the lamps to bear on it. On seeing the blood flow in a continued 

 stream, and not by jerks, I knew that the artery was safe. Having 

 succeeded in getting out the two pieces of glass with my finger and 

 thumb, I bound the wound up with my cravat. Then cutting off 

 my coat-pocket, I gave it to the captain, and directed him to get it 

 filled with poultice, in a house where we saw a light at a distance. 

 The next day a strong fever came on, so we stopped until it had 

 abated, and then we went on again, and stopped again on account 

 of the fever, and again proceeded, until at last we reached Paris ; 

 the wound being in a deplorable state. Here Dr Marshall, a friend 

 from Demerara, took me under his care until I was in a state to pro- 

 ceed to England. He showed exquisite skill in his treatment of the 

 wound, and would have done wonders for it had I stayed a suffi- 

 cient length of time with him. 



" On my arrival in London, Father Scott, of the Society of Jesus, 

 came immediately to my assistance. Having inspected the wound, 

 he took his departure without loss of time, and he brought back with 

 him the celebrated Mr Carpue, to whose consummate knowledge and 

 incessant attention I owe the preservation of the limb, and probably 

 of life too. The knee continued stiff for nearly two years ; but, by 

 constant exercise, and by refusing the aid of a walking-stick, it lost 

 at last all rigidity, and is now as sound as though it had never been 

 injured. I have often thought since, that I should have laid my 

 bones in France, but for the unwearied exertions of my friend 

 Captain Alexander." 



His prolonged course of observation on the Demerara estates was 

 of immense advantage to Waterton, when he continued his studies 

 in that great university of Natural History, the primeval forest 

 Most European travellers come fresh from their native country to the 

 tropics. The number of new and exciting sights is bewildering, and 



