JOURNEYS IN DIVERSE PLACES S3 



Constable; who had a pistol-shot in the middle of the spine 

 of his back, whereby at once he lost all feeling and move- 

 ment in his thighs and legs . . . because the spinal cord, 

 whence arise the nerves to give feeling and movement to the 

 parts below, was crushed, broken, and torn by the force of 

 the bullet. Also he lost understanding and reason, and in a 

 few days he died. The surgeons of Paris were hard put to 

 it for many days to treat all the wounded. I think, mon 

 petit maistre, you saw some of them. I beseech the great 

 Pod of victories, that we be never more employed in such 

 misfortune and disaster. 



VOYAGE OF THE BATTLE OF MONCONTOUR. 1569 



DURING the battle of Moncontour, King Charles was at 

 Plessis-les-Tours, where he heard the news of the victory. 

 A great number of gentlemen and soldiers retreated into the 

 town and suburbs of Tours, wounded, to be dressed and 

 treated; and the King and the Queen-mother bade me do 

 my duty by them, with other surgeons who were then on 

 duty, as Pigray, du Bois, Portail, and one Siret, a surgeon 

 of Tours, a man well versed in surgery, who was at this 

 time surgeon to the King's brother. And for the multitude 

 of bad cases we had scarce any rest, nor the physicians 

 either. 



M. le Comte de Mansfeld, Governor of the Duchy of 

 Luxembourg, Knight of the Order of the King, was severely 

 wounded in the battle, in the left arm, with a pistol-shot 

 which broke a great part of his elbow; and he withdrew to 

 Borgueil near Tours. Then he sent a gentleman to the King, 

 to beg him to send one of his surgeons, to help him of his 

 wound. So they debated which surgeon they should send. 

 M. le Marechal de Montmorency told the King and the 

 Queen that they ought to send him their chief surgeon ; and 

 urged that M. de Mansfeld had done much toward the 

 victory. 



The King said flat, he would not have me go, and wished 

 me to stop with himself. Then the Queen-mother told him 

 I would but go and come back, and he must remember it 

 was a foreign lord, who had come, at the command of the 



