After Their Grief Had Subsided A Little, I Was Desired To Examine
The Wound.
I found that the ball had passed quite through his leg,
having fractured both bones a little below the knee:
The poor boy
was faint from the loss of blood, and his situation withal so very
precarious, that I could not console his relations with any great
hopes of his recovery. However, to give him a possible chance, I
observed to them that it was necessary to cut off his leg above the
knee. This proposal made every one start with horror; they had
never heard of such a method of cure, and would by no means give
their consent to it; indeed, they evidently considered me a sort of
cannibal for proposing so cruel and unheard-of an operation, which,
in their opinion, would be attended with more pain and danger than
the wound itself. The patient was therefore committed to the care
of some old bashreens, who endeavoured to secure him a passage into
paradise by whispering in his ear some Arabic sentences, and
desiring him to repeat them. After many unsuccessful attempts, the
poor heathen at last pronounced, "La illah el Allah, Mahamet rasowl
allahi" ("There is but one God, and Mohammed is his Prophet"); and
the disciples of the Prophet assured his mother that her son had
given sufficient evidence of his faith, and would be happy in a
future state. He died the same evening.
February 17. - My guides informed me that in order to avoid the
Moorish banditti it was necessary to travel in the night; we
accordingly departed from Funingkedy in the afternoon, accompanied
by about thirty people, carrying their effects with them into
Ludamar, for fear of the war.
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