He dragged himself to his feet, slowly and painfully, resting half his weight against the trunk of a tree. He looked down at his legs and found they were torn and bleeding in a dozen places from contact with the thorny twigs. The rest of his body was badly bruised and cut. He would rub himself with river mud, his sovereign remedy, as soon as he could walk.
It took some time for the strength to return to his bruised limbs. And even when he could move and bear his weight upon them, his gait was no more than an uncertain wobble.
He was furiously impatient of this infirmity. In this condition he was as helpless as a wounded tapir. How easily he could become the prey of any beast of the jungle that might happen to come across him!
Bomba shifted his machete from his right hand to the left and felt for his bow and arrows. They were gone, torn from him, probably, as the tree fell upon him.
This was a serious loss, and his heart was filled with consternation. He made a careful search of the vicinity, but could find no trace of them.
It was another illustration of the saying that misfortunes never come singly. First he had been robbed of his revolver. Now he had lost his bow and arrows. Only his machete was left to meet the manifold dangers by which he was surrounded and for use against the wily Nascanora and his braves. He wondered grimly how long even his machete would be left to him.
But he had to make the best of it. Perhaps he would meet some friendly natives who would trade him a bow and some arrows for the meat of the peccary. If not, he would have to shape the weapons himself with his knife, if he could find suitable material.
Meanwhile he had returned to the pool. There, scooping up great handfuls of mud, he rubbed it over his torn and bleeding flesh. Then, impatient of further delay, he started off through the jungle in the direction of the Giant Cataract.
He realized at last that he was very hungry, and, thinking that his weakness was partly due to this, he took from his pouch some of the roasted meat and ate with a relish.
He felt refreshed after this, and proceeded at a much better pace. His limbs still pained him greatly, and he was forced to stop at frequent intervals to rest. But he was getting stronger, and his confidence was returning to him.