174 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



than of the way before me, I trod upon a little 

 hardwood stump, which was just about an inch 

 or so above the ground ; it entered the hollow part 

 of my foot, making a deep and lacerated wound 

 there. It had brought me to the ground, and 

 there I lay till a transitory fit of sickness went 

 off. I allowed it to bleed freely, and on reaching 

 head-quarters, washed it well and probed it, to 

 feel if any foreign body was left within it. Being 

 satisfied that there was none, I brought the edges 

 of the wound together, and then put a piece of lint 

 on it, and over that a very large poultice, which 

 was changed morning, noon, and night. Luckily, 

 Backer had a cow or two upon the hill: now as 

 heat and moisture are the two principal virtues 

 of a poultice, nothing could produce those two 

 qualities better than fresh cow-dung boiled: had 

 there been no cows there, I could have made it 

 with boiled grass and leaves. I now took entirely 

 to the hammock, placing the foot higher than the 

 knee; this prevented it from throbbing, and was, 

 indeed, the only position in which I could be at 

 ease. When the inflammation was completely 

 subdued, I applied a wet cloth to the wound, and 

 every now and then steeped the foot in cold 

 water during the day, and at night again applied 

 a poultice. The wound was now healing fast, 

 and in three weeks from the time of the accident, 

 nothing but a scar remained; so that I again 

 sallied forth sound and joyful, and said to my- 

 self— 



"I, pedes, quo te rapiunt et auras 

 Dum favet sol, et locus, i secundo 

 Omine, et conto latebras, ut olim, 



Eumpe f erarum. ' * 



