SOUTH AMERICA. 163 



JOURNEY. 



foot, making a deep and lacerated wound there. THIRD 



i mi'Hvrv 



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 poul- 

 tice, nothing could produce those two qualities 

 better than fresh cow-dung boiled : had there been 

 no cows there, I could have made out 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 1 again 

 sallied forth sound and joyful, and said to myself 



" I, quo te pedes rapiunt et aurae 

 Dum favet sol, et locus, i secundo 

 Omine, et conto latebras, ut olira, 



Rnmpc ferarum," 

 M 2 



