gether in the hut,
unable to defend ourselves in so narrow a space, nothing could have
prevented one of us being bitten.

We sat for some time before we could begin our meal, and we did not fail
to return thanks for our merciful deliverance from danger. We naturally
talked about what we should have done had either of us been bitten. It
was a subject which I had discussed with David on several occasions, for
we had had a great fear of the bites of serpents when we first arrived
in the country. However, we had hitherto met so few, that we had lost
all alarm about them.

"If you had been bitten, I should have tried to cut away the flesh
immediately round the wound, and sucked the blood," Natty said to me;
and from the look of affection he gave me, I was sure that he would
without hesitation have made the attempt.

"I should have first tied a ligature above the wounded part, so as to
prevent the venom spreading," I observed. "Had we been with David, we
might have found remedies in his medicine-chest. It is said that _eau
de luce_ is often effectual. Five drops are administered to the patient
in a glass of water every ten minutes till the poison is counteracted.
It is also applied externally. I have heard that Dutch farmers attempt
to counteract the effects of serpents' bites by making an incision in
the breast of a living fowl, and applying it to the bitten part. If the
poison is very deadly, the bird becomes drowsy, droops its head, and
dies. It is then replaced by a second, and so on till the bird no
longer shows signs of suffering, when the patient is considered out of
danger. A frog is sometimes applied in the same way; and turtle blood,
prepared by drying, when applied to the wound produced by a venomous
serpent or a poisoned arrow, is supposed to be efficacious. The wounded
person takes a couple of pinches of the dried blood internally, and also
applies some of it to the wound. It is said also that the Brahmins in
India manufacture a stone which has the virtue of counteracting the
poison of serpents. They alone possess the secret, which they will not
divulge. The stone is applied to the wound, to which it sticks closely
without any bandage, and drinks in the poison till it can receive no
more. It is then placed in milk, that it may purge itself of the
poison, and is again applied to the wound, till it has drawn out the
whole of the poison."

"Yes," observed Natty, "I remember hearing of those storie