Jumping Over Jali's Body, He Was
Just In Time To Deliver A Tremendous Cut At The Hind Leg Of The
Elephant, that must otherwise have killed both horses and
probably Suleiman also, as the three were caught in a cul
De sac
in a passage that had no outlet, and were at the elephant's
mercy.
Abou Do seldom failed; it was a difficult feat to strike
correctly in the narrow jungle passage with the elephant in full
speed, but the blow was fairly given, and the back sinew was
divided. Not content with the success of the cut, he immediately
repeated the stroke upon the other leg, as he feared that the
elephant, although disabled from rapid motion, might turn and
trample Jali. The extraordinary dexterity and courage required to
effect this can hardly be appreciated by those who have never
hunted a wild elephant; but the extreme agility, pluck, and
audacity of these Hamran sword-hunters surpass all feats that I
have ever witnessed.
I set Jali's broken thigh, and employed myself in making splints;
fortunately, my tool-chest was at hand, and I selected some
pieces of dry wood that had been left on the bank by the retiring
river. I made two splints, one with a crutch to fit beneath the
arm; this I carried to about three inches beyond the foot, and
cut a V-shaped notch to secure the bandage; the other was a
common short splint about eighteen inches long. My wife quickly
made about sixty yards of bandages, while Barrak, the maid,
prepared thick gum water, from gum arabic, that the mimosas
produced in unlimited quantity. Fixing the long splint under the
arm, and keeping it upon the outside of the thigh, with the leg
perfectly straight, I lashed the foot and ankle securely to the
V-shaped notch: I then strapped the upper portion of the splint
with bandages passed around the patient's chest, until he was
swathed from beneath the arms to the hips, thus securing the
splint to his body. The thigh, and entire leg from the fork to
the ankle, I carefully secured to the long splint with three rows
of bandages, the first plain, and the last two layers were soaked
in thick gum-water. When these became dry and hard, they formed
a case like an armour of paste-board: previous to bandaging the
limb in splints, I had bathed it for some hours with cold
applications.
On the following morning I expected to find my patient in great
pain; but, on the contrary, he complained very little. His pulse
was good, and there was very little swelling or heat. I gave him
some cooling medicine; and the only anxiety that he expressed was
the wish to get well immediately, so as to continue the
expedition.
The Arabs thought that I could mend the leg of a man as though it
were the broken stock of a gun, that would be serviceable
immediately when repaired. As these people never use spirituous
liquors, they are very little subject to inflammation, and they
recover quickly from wounds that would be serious to Europeans.
I attended to Jali for four days.
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