A Scout ought to know a little about most injuries and diseases, and
to be able to treat them. In uncivilised countries the natives all
look on a white man as a born doctor, and they bring you cases of
every kind to deal with.
When I was in Kashmir, a lad was brought to me who had just fallen
down a steep bank. He was in great pain, and his friends and relatives
were already considering him as good as dead. On examination, I found
no bones broken, but his right shoulder out of joint at the socket. So
I told them to lay him flat on his back, and I began to take off my
right shoe, or rather the grass sandal that I was wearing.
Some of the bystanders, seeing me do this, said: "Oh! he is going to
pray," and immediately began unfastening my other sandal for me.
You see, these people take off their shoes when they go into church or
to pray, just as we take off our hats. But I wasn't going to pray, and
only took my right sandal off.
Then I sat down alongside the patient, facing towards his head, my
right leg against his right side, so that my heel came into the armpit
of the injured shoulder, I got one of his friends to sit on the other
side of him to hold him down; then catching tight hold of his wrist
with both hands, I gave a long, steady, strong pull at his arm, using
my heel as a lever, till the shoulder suddenly clicked into its place
again. Such a nice feeling to me, just as if I had hooked a salmon!
Then he fainted.
His mother howled? and said I had made a nice mess of the job, and had
killed him. But I grinned and put on my sandal, and told her that was
all part of the show, and that I would now bring him to life quite
sound and well, which I proceeded to do by sprinkling a little water
over his face. He gradually came to his senses, and then found that
his arm was practically all right.
His own astonishment and theirs was very great, and within half an
hour my tent was full of fruit and chickens and eggs as
thank-offerings.
But during the next three days all the sick, the maimed, and the blind
were brought in from the country round for me to cure. You never saw
such a lot. Men, women, and children with every conceivable ailment,
including bad eyes, which I treated by bathing with warm weak tea. One
poor chap had had half his face bitten off by a bear, losing his eye
and the whole of his cheek, so that all his teeth were showing in a
horrible grin--the more horrible because the wound had never been
properly dressed.
Then one enormously fat man asked me to do something for him. Now,
what would you have done in such a case? I only had some lead lotion,
some disinfectant, and a few mustard poultice leaves. So I gave him
one of these mustard leaves, and told him if that wouldn't cure him I
didn't know what would, and in saying that I was speaking the exact
truth. I told him to wet it and put it on his "chest" when he went to
bed.
Next day he came with tears of gratitude and said I had done more for
him in one night than all the doctors had done for him in years. He
felt that he was already growing thinner.
I moved my camp twenty miles off that day, as I thought it better to
get away while I had such a good reputation, and, besides, they were
beginning to bring in patients from all over the district, and I had
nothing to cure them with.
But that is the kind of thing you may expect when you are travelling,
and you should learn while you can how to deal with the usual
ailments, so that you can be of some help to the poor creatures when
you come across them.
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