Thinking more of the woodpecker, as
I ran along, than of the way before me, I trod upon a little hardwood stump
which was just about an inch or so above the ground; it entered the hollow
part of my foot, making a deep and lacerated wound there. It had brought me
to the ground, and there I lay till a transitory fit of sickness went off.
I allowed it to bleed freely, and on reaching headquarters washed it well
and probed it, to feel if any foreign body was left within it. Being
satisfied that there was none, I brought the edges of the wound together
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.
Pages:
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209