The next day's march was through a rough country, the road ascending steadily as it followed the valley of the river. The caravan passed several villages, but made no halt at any of them, and the camp for the night was made near a small stream which flowed into the great river, less than a mile away. One of the natives brought a fish caught in the stream. It bore a close resemblance to the trout, and Doctor Bronson said it was evidently a member of that voracious but wary family. Its native name was moora, and it was said to be found in several of the smaller streams of that region, but not in the lakes or large rivers.
One of the porters met with a serious accident, and the Doctor's professional skill was called into play. The man slipped on a sloping rock, and the fall broke one of the small bones of his right leg. The natives desired to treat it after their manner, which consisted in covering the limb with earth, and then building a fire over it, till the patient howls with agony. He is then released, and the half-roasted flesh is bound in splints and wound with thin bark, and must take its chances of healing. The Doctor refused to allow this treatment, and set the broken limb after the usual manner of American surgeons. Four bearers were then employed to carry the man on a litter to Foueira; and they set off an hour in advance of the caravan, so that there should be no delay.
KAWENDÉ SURGERY.
The incident recalled the account which Dr. Livingstone gives of the surgery he once witnessed in the Kawendé country, where the thigh-bone of a native was smashed by the accidental discharge of a rifle. It was as follows:
"First of all a hole was dug, say, two feet deep and four in length, in such a manner that the patient could sit in it with his legs out before him. A large leaf was then bound round the fractured thigh and earth thrown in, so that the patient was buried up to the chest. The next act was to cover the earth which lay over the man's legs with a thick layer of mud; then plenty of sticks and grass were collected, and a fire lighted on the top directly over the fracture. To prevent the smoke smothering the sufferer they held a tall mat, as a screen, before his face, and the operation went on. After some time the heat reached the limbs underground; and bellowing with fear, and covered with perspiration, the man implored them to let him out.
"The authorities, concluding that he had been sufficiently long under treatment, quickly burrowed down and lifted him from the hole. He was now held perfectly fast while two strong men stretched the wounded limb with all their might. Splints, duly prepared, were afterward bound round it, and we must hope that in due time benefit accrued; but as the ball had passed through the limb, we must have our doubts on the subject. The villagers said that they constantly treated bad gunshot wounds in this way with perfect success."
The march the next day and the next were without incident of consequence; and as both Fred and the Doctor were anxious to get to Foueira and meet the companion of their travels through Asia, we will gratify their wishes and stand within a few miles of the encampment. Frank had been notified by the porters who brought the wounded man in advance of the caravan. Immediately on receiving the news he prepared to go out to meet them; and thus it happened that they saw the young gentleman riding along the path when the encampment was yet half a dozen miles away.
The meeting was a happy one for all concerned. The boys ran to embrace each other, and the Doctor joined them, so that a triangle of happiness was speedily formed. The natives set up a shout of greeting, partly on account of the meeting of the white men, and partly on their own behalf. There was a considerable number of their friends who had accompanied Frank from the fort, and made haste to remove the burdens from the heads and shoulders of the weary porters and transfer them to their own. Of course all had to sit down for a while to exchange gossip. Fully an hour was taken up with the fraternal meeting, and then the march was resumed.