THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY JUMP 179 



was the pleasing discovery that he was severely cut about 

 the body and head, that his right ankle was dislocated, 

 and that his back was benumbed or paralysed by the 

 concussion of his fall. When, however, the long-wished-for 

 sun arose, it shone upon his bare, bleeding head with such 

 intolerable heat that, as a protection from its rays, he 

 transferred his cotton handkerchief to his scalp and fore- 

 head, leaving sticking up above them the two ends, which, 

 like the remainder, were stained crimson with his blood. 



After lying in horrible pain for several hours, to his 

 great joy he spied a boat full of natives rowing towards the 

 spot where he lay. As they came near, he hailed them in 

 a faint voice ; but the moment their eyes fell on the ghastly 

 figure of the Colonel, with his strange head-dress, they set 

 up a yell, and rowed away as if twenty thousand devils 

 were after them, and never paused till a projecting tongue 

 of land hid them from view. After some time a single 

 black man came clambering over the rocks, intent only on 

 catching fish. He was within a few yards of the Colonel, 

 when the latter hailed him. But the moment the nigger 

 caught sight of the bleeding head and blood-stained 

 bandages, he uttered a yell as wild as his comrades had 

 done, flung down his rod and line, and made tracks over 

 the rocks as fast as his feet and hands could carry him. 



The Colonel began to despair of ever receiving assistance, 

 and resigned himself to the prospect of a lingering death. 

 But, fortunately, his English servant, alarmed at his 

 master's absence, went in search of him, and, after tracking 

 the horse's hoofs for hours, at last came to the edge of the 

 precipice. This, taken in conjunction with the sudden 

 cessation of the hoof-prints and the signs of trampling 

 near the low fence, convinced him that an accident had 

 happened. He therefore ran to the barracks ; a boat was 

 procured and manned by eager soldiers, who pulled 

 lustily towards the foot of the cliff. Very tenderly and 

 carefully they lifted their Colonel into the boat, and rowed 

 him back to the barracks. He was borne to his quarters 

 on a stretcher, and for some months he lay in great pain 

 and danger. But in due course the paralysed muscles of 

 his back recovered, and eventually he was restored to 



