DEATH OF A GALLANT SPORTSMAN 369 



All this occurred in a few seconds, and I had been unable to 

 put in a shot sooner. The bull left the spot and lay down in 

 the undergrowth close by, kicking and bellowing where he 

 lay. I went at once to Syers' assistance, and found him 

 terribly injured ; the lining of the stomach protruding from 

 the wound in his right side. I at once sent Awang to get 

 assistance, and he returned in an hour and a half's time with 

 some sakies, whom he met coming down-river in their 

 dug-outs. In the meantime, I did all I could to bind and 

 dress Syers' wound. We made a stretcher and carried him 

 to the boat. 



"At Syers' urgent request I returned to despatch the bull, 

 leaving him in the care of his old servant, Yacoob. I had 

 some difficulty in finding the spot where the bison was 

 lying, but, on finding him, I stalked close up to him. He 

 tried to rise but was unable to do so. I gave him five shots 

 before he was finished. I counted fifteen bullet wounds, 

 mostly on the shoulders, some of them penetrating clean 

 through the body. Yacoob, in the meanwhile, had sent on 

 news of the accident to Knala Semantan by a fast sampan. 

 I left two men to gather the head, and immediately proceeded 

 down-river with Syers. It was about 1 1 a.m. when Syers 

 met with his injury, and we commenced our way down-stream 

 about 2 p.m. Before proceeding down-stream I dressed the 

 wound with carbolic bandages, and gave him small doses of 

 brandy-and-water. He complained of great pain in his 

 bladder, and I applied hot fomentations and opium. 



u We reached Knala Semantan at 9.30 p.m., where Mr. 

 Townley gave me every available assistance. We moved 

 Syers into a larger boat and gave him some chloroform. We 

 left at 10 p.m. with a crew of twenty Malays rowing hard, 

 in the hope of reaching Pekan, where the nearest medical aid 

 was obtainable. Syers was in good spirits and complained 

 of being sleepy, but at 12.45 a.m., on the I4th, he expired. 



U I reached Pekan on the I5th, where poor Syers was 

 examined by Dr. Jesser Coope. On examination it was 

 found that the muscles on the right side of his back were 

 completely torn away from the spine, and Dr. Coope expressed 

 the opinion that this alone would have been sufficient to kill 



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