46 Among Men and Horses. 



As far as I can remember, I have been only twice nearly 

 being killed by accident. On one occasion, I was carelessly 

 sitting on the bulwarks of a sailing ship in which I was bound 

 for India, one dark night, when the ship gave a sudden lurch 

 and I fell backwards. As I turned over, I caught a projecting 

 piece of wood, and being a good gymnast, I swung myself 

 up and was on board in a second or two. As the ship was 

 running free before a fresh breeze with all sails set, I would 

 not have had a million to one chance of being picked up in 

 the pitch darkness, had I fallen overboard. Another time I 

 got a still worse jar to my feelings when riding in a five- 

 furlong race, a very impetuous horse, who always buckjumped 

 when much excited. A few false starts, as we were all 

 anxious to be off, set him mad. On turning him round to 

 get him to join his horses, he gave three or four desperate 

 plunges, if not actual buckjumps, with such a jerk at the end 

 of each one, that my racing stirrup-irons gave to the pressure, 

 and caught my feet as tightly as if they were in a vice. 

 Luckily the starter's flag fell and the pace was good enough 

 to steady him. Had we been kept longer at the post, I 

 should have had a trial of my ability to ride a buckjumper 

 in a two-pound saddle, with the penalty of a horrible death 

 in the event of my losing. 



Although I was in a dreadful fright when I felt my feet 

 caught in the stirrups when on the buckjumper, I believe if I 

 had fallen off and got dragged, my senses, as long as I kept 

 alive, would have been too numbed for me to have felt either 

 pain or fear. I remember once walking unarmed through a 

 part of the great Nirmul jungle in India, when suddenly a 

 tiger sprung up almost at my feet. For probably ten seconds, 

 which seemed as many years, he raced round me while I 

 stood stock still, wondering why I could not put out my 

 hand and catch him by the tail, which was the only thought 

 that occupied my mind during these eventful moments, until 

 with a bound and growl the tiger disappeared into the thick 

 underwood. Sir Lyon Play fair says : 



