Merry, Who Usually Was Pluck And
Energy Itself, Was Following At My Heels And Looking Stupid And Subdued.
This Dog
Was indomitable, and his fault was wildness at the commencement
of the day; I could not now induce him to
Hunt, and his eyes had a
peculiar expression, as though his system had suffered some severe
shock. Shot came slowly when I called him, but he walked with
difficulty, and his jaws were swollen. I now felt sure that the dogs
were bitten by a snake, which they had been baying when I heard them in
the bush about five minutes before. We were very near the camp, and the
dog crept home slowly at my heels. Upon examination there was no doubt
of the cause; Shot had wounds of a snake's fangs upon his lip, under the
eye, and upon one ear; he must have been the first bitten, as he had
evidently received the greatest discharge of poison. Merry was bitten in
the mouth and in one ear, both of which were already swollen, but not to
the same degree as Shot, who, within an hour, had a head as large as a
small calf's, and his eyes were completely closed. I had not the
slightest hope of his recovery, as his throat had swollen to an enormous
size, which threatened suffocation. I could do nothing for the poor dogs
but oil their mouths, although knew that the poison would assuredly
spread throughout the system. The dogs had been bitten at about 3.40
P.M. At 8 P.M. (our dinner-hour) Shot was a shapeless mass, and his
limbs were stiff; the skin of his throat and fore-part of his body
beneath his curly white and liver-coloured hair was perfectly black; his
jowl, which now hung three inches below his jaws, was also inky black,
as were his swollen tongue and palate. Merry's head and throat were
swollen badly, and he lay by the blazing fire of logs half stupefied and
devoid of observation.
On the following morning Shot was evidently dying; he did not appear to
suffer pain, but was in a state of coma and swelled to such a degree
that he resembled the skin of an animal that had been badly stuffed with
hay. Merry was worse than on the preceding night, and lay in a state of
stupor. I carried him to the sea and dipped him several times beneath
the water; this appeared slightly to revive him, and he was placed in a
large saddle-bag to be carried on a mule for the day's march. Shot had
been quite unconscious, and when the men prepared an animal to carry
him, it was found that he was already dead. This was a little after 8
A.M., and he had been bitten at about 3.40 P. M.: about 16 and a half
hours had elapsed. My men dug a grave and buried the poor animal, who
had been a faithful dog and an excellent retriever.
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