CUTTING OFF THE QUEEN'S TOE : A MEMORY OF THE
" COAST " [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The principal queen at a certain place on the " Coast '0 —a dusky lady—had a very bad poisoned toe, and the doctor decided that it must come off, for it was as big as a child's wrist and gangrened. Unfortunately, the poor lady had a somewhat weak heart and couldn't take chloroform, so the doctor decided that I should hold her foot while he whipped it off. We came ashore all ready for the operation. This was too great an occasion for the village not to hold a festa ; so, when we arrived, there was the queen sitting on a string bed in the midst of the village square with the king, the ex-king, the other queens and the court around her, the witch doctors (juju men) in full fig in attendance and every other soul in the village sitting at a respectful distance all rapt with the excitement and hope of something enthralling occurring.
It did ! The first thing was to shift her majesty on to a waterproof sheet on the ground and wash her foot, which I very humbly achieved. I then, amid loud shouts of " Wah " from the onlookers, held the foot while the queen assumed a
proud and resigned air and the doctor rapidly started to cut.
The queen immediately yelled loud enough to drown all else and kicked vigorously. The doctor cursed, I—I regret to say—laughed, the natives all jumped about snapping their lingers and shouting " Wah," while the king came forward and bellowed something at the queen. " What does he say ? " we asked the interpreter, who wore a tall hat and a loin cloth.
Oh, he say he make no man of her (i.e., kill her) if she don't lib still," he replied. The doctor shouted to me to sit on her legs while I held the foot, and this I did. But the queen, who was now full of a vengeful silence, leant forward and bit my back for all she was worth, and, as all I had on was a thin khaki tunic and a vest, it hurt horribly.
I bellowed in my turn and tried to jab her in the face with my elbows, but in vain—just try it if you doubt it—while the doctor, who didn't realize what was happening, kept shouting at me to " keep still, you blithering idiot." However, he went on and finished successfully somehow. All the time the natives were in ecstasies of delight, screamed with laughter and shouted " Wah." The poor queen, rather sick and faint, was finally bound up and carried to her hut.
The next day, when we landed to inquire after the patient and renew the dressings, we were met by the king and the ex-king, who solemnly presented us with two wives each— princesses and somewhat damaged goods—and to me a fine ivory tusk and to the doctor an ivory bracelet. We refused the wives, which was foolish ; for, as the local trader pointed out, each wife was worth four bullocks and each bullock was worth so much gold dust ! The doctor complained loudly about the ivory, but was told, " Oh, yes, you did the work, but he (pointing to me) told you what to do." Of course, we exchanged trophies and I still have the ivory bracelet. I am glad to add that the queen made a rapid
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