164 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



grace to, and skinning game when wounded. The 

 knife, a doubled-edged one, was nearly new, and 

 its point and edges were as sharp and keen as 

 they well could be. During the operations of 

 stooping and picking up the unfortunate Jackson, 

 the sheath had by some means come off, and 

 as it was dark, to save time, I slipped it into 

 my pocket, and very unwisely left the knife to 

 hang naked at my side. Before long the belt 

 had slipped round, and the knife hung, unknown 

 to me, directly in my front. In crossing a dry 

 spruit, and scrambling up the farther bank, I 

 blundered in the dark, and making an extra effort, 

 thrust my right thigh heavily against the point of 

 the hunting knife. I knew in a moment what had 

 happened ; the blade had gone pretty deeply into 

 my leg, and directly I topped the bank I was 

 bleeding freely, and felt the warm blood trickling 

 down the wounded limb. Situated as I was, I could 

 only bind my handkerchief tightly round my leg, 

 trust to Providence, and hurry home. After a 

 somewhat painful walk, I at length saw the welcome 

 lights of the farmhouse, and presently got indoors ; 

 then I found the leg of my right trouser soaked in 

 blood. 



Assistance was soon provided, the wound 

 washed and tightly strapped up, and the bleeding 

 presently ceased. An inspection showed that I had 

 had a very narrow escape ; the wound was within one 

 inch of the femoral artery ; if this artery had been 

 severed I should have bled to death very rapidly, 

 and nothing could have saved me. An inch of a 

 miss, however, in this case, was literally as good as a 

 mile, and the only reminder I have of the adventure 



