Il6 REMINISCENCES OF SONEPORE. 



" There was undoubtedly a certain amount of excitement 

 in this, which added zest to the sport ; a case of, ' perhaps he 

 bites, perhaps he don't.' On this occasion the bite came off, 

 the snake died. A man who had ridden and lassoed an alli- 

 gator was not to have his star blotted out by a vile reptile 

 like a snake. 



" On the eventful night in question, a brilliant moonlight 

 one by-the-bye, we had all retired to the arms of Morpheus. 

 I was awoke by what I took at first for a ghost, and under- 

 stood that Harry (whom everyone in India knows means 

 Abbott) had been bitten by a snake. A galvanic shock could 

 not have had a greater effect. 



" The first thing I saw was Abbott violently sick on the 

 edge of the verandah. I then ascertained that he had been 

 bitten between the middle fingers by a snake, the marks of 

 the teeth being most distinct. There was no doubt about it, 

 a couple of minutes had elapsed since the bite, but in the 

 meantime he had tied two ligatures on his arm, one at the 

 wrist and one on the forearm ; had also taken a dose of 

 medicine, which, curious to say, a lady had sent a few days 

 previously, vouching for its efficacy in snake-bite. It was evi- 

 dently, from its strong smell, composed with a good deal of 

 ammonia, and should have been taken with oil. In the ex- 

 citement, the first dose or two was given neat with the re- 

 sult that the poor patient lost all the skin off his tongue, 

 which made him remark that the cure was worse than the 

 bite. Determined to leave nothing undone, I promptly got a 

 razor and giving a couple of cross cuts over the bites, drop- 

 ped on some raw carbolic acid. I can quite bear out the 

 statements that Abbott is a man of nerve, or without nerves ; 

 he never flinched in the slighest under the operation, and as 

 far as he himself was concerned, treated the whole thing 

 as rather a joke than otherwise, right through the trying 

 ordeal. 



