38 Leaves from an Indian Jungle. 



A day of " Loo, " or roaring hot winds, was succeeded 

 by a calm cool night, and I was carried ten miles farther. 

 By this time my back had stiffened from my fall of the 

 morning, and it was impossible to obtain rest for a moment, 

 nor could I, though incessantly sitting up and lying down 

 again, draw breath without pain. To ease the back I tried 

 to turn on my side ; but at that such a cramp seized the 

 lacerated muscles of the thigh that the horrified bearers of my 

 bed almost dropped me at the sharp expletive which rose 

 involuntarily to the sky. 



All next day was spent at a roadside bungalow : the 

 wounds had glazed over, and it was necessary to open them 

 up and dress them again, which at last I forced myself to 

 do with my penknife. At night came torture at the hands 

 of the little native assistant surgeon summoned to treat me. 

 A night of morphia-induced slumber, and twenty-five miles 

 more on the bed, brought me to a small civil station, a 

 friend in need and comparative rest comparative, for here 

 came chloroform and an operation. Though a mauling from 

 a bear is not so dangerous as one from a carnivorous 

 animal, there was considerable apprehension of pyaemia 

 setting in : but the fact of being in hard condition averted 

 that from the outset. 



In one single bite the bear, seizing the leg sidewise, 

 had made all her four canine teeth almost meet. In that 

 wound practically all the muscles of the lower part of the 

 thigh were involved; and a considerable portion of them,, 

 forming a dangerous flap, had to be subsequently removed by 

 the surgeon's knife. One fang penetrated to and almost 

 severed the very tubing in which runs the femoral artery. 



Two months on one's back, surrounded by hospital smells, 

 afforded scope for thought ; and in reviewing the affair the 

 following points suggested themselves. 



