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 as 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 Bushreens, 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, Mahomet rasowl
allahi_;[9] 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.
[9] There is but one God, and Mahomet is his Prophet.
Feb. 17th. 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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