, SOUTH AMERICA. 159 



I allowed it to bleed freely, and on reaching head- Third 



Journey. 



quarters, washed it well and probed it, to feel if any 



foreign body was left wdthin it. Being satisfied that 

 there was none, I brought the edges of the wound toge- 

 ther, 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 poultice, 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 Avater 

 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 — 



" 1, quo te pedes rapiunt et auras 

 Dum favet sol, et locus, i secundo 

 Omine, et conto latebras, vit 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 



