THIRD JOURNEY. 



135 



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 poultice, nothing could produce 

 those two qualities better than fresh cow-dung boiled : 

 had there been no* cows there, I could have made it 

 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 I again sallied 

 forth sound and joyful, and said to myself — 



" I, pedes quo te rapiunt et aurae 

 Dum favet sol, et locus, i secuudo 

 Oinine, et conto latebras, ut olim, 



Rumpe ferarum." 



Now, this contus was a tough light pole, eight feet long, 

 on the end of which was fixed an old bayonet. I never 

 went into the canoe without it ; it was of great use in 

 starting the beasts and snakes out of the hollow trees, 

 and in case of need, was an excellent defence. 



In 1819, I had the last conversation with 



Last conver- 



sation with Sir Sir Joseph Banks. I saw with sorrow that 

 ' death was going to rob us of him. We talked 

 much of the present mode adopted by all museums in 

 stuffing quadrupeds, and condemned it as being very 

 imperfect : still we could not find out a better way ; and 

 at last concluded, that the lips and nose ought to be cut 

 off, and replaced with wax ; it being impossible to make 

 those parts appear like life, as they shrink to nothing, and 



