KURUKWAHI 209 



was carried into a back room. Two village buffaloes 

 had been fighting, as they were driven home in the 

 evening; one of them " fleddawaay," as the doctor 

 put it, and the other turned on the woman and 

 attacked and tossed her. One horn ran into her 

 body. They picked her up and tried to fasten a 

 bandage tightly round her, and so to bring her in, 

 ten miles, in a jolting cart the only thing available 

 to hospital. The bandage slipped and when she 

 arrived the poor thing was in a terrible state. There 

 was moaning, gentle moaning, all night long. The 

 doctor tried to perform an operation, but found he 

 could not do it alone, so sent for another apothecary, 

 miles away, who could not arrive till late the next 

 night. 



When the doors were all opened in the morning 

 I could hear the crying more distinctly and she 

 seemed to be in such fearful agony; it all sounded 

 so hopeless, poor thing ! poor thing ! She got so 

 much worse and sinking towards evening, the doctor 

 said he must try an operation at all costs. His 

 compounder must give the chloroform, and he wanted 

 two more hands besides his own to do anything to 

 be of any good. I had naturally offered to come and 

 try to help him, but he demurred, and said he would 

 have his assistant ready first and then let me know. 

 They started, but very soon Rattan Lai came to ask 

 me if I had any brandy. Before we could pour 

 any out the assistant came running, to say that she 

 was dead. 



Her relations were allowed in and stood round her, 

 wailing. In another half-hour a sad little funeral 



