148 
WANDERINGS IN 
THIRD 
JOURNEY. 
Last con¬ 
versation 
with Sir 
Joseph 
Banks. 
it from throbbing, and was, indeed, the only position 
in which I could be at ease. When the inflamma¬ 
tion 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 secundo 
Omine, 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 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 imper¬ 
fect : 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 render the stuffed specimens in the 
different museums horrible to look at. The defects 
in the legs and feet would not be quite so glaring, 
being covered with hair. 
