The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-10-17
SUPPLYING MENAGERIES.
How ELEPHANTS, Lions, Hippopotnmuses,
and Other Wild Animals are Caught in
Africn.-N Strnnge Business.

that have been lost, the suffering en-
dured, the great sums of money expend-
ell, and the perfect system directing the
workings of men and savages far beyond
the limits of civilization, making collec-
tons of wild animals for the menagerles ?
Indeed, the business has been so almost
exclusively done by two very quiet gen
tlemen, whose agencies :, "'r nearly half
the globe, that beyond the proprietors
and managers of gardens and shows
only o very limited number have any
conception of the extent of their opera
tons, or of 50 much as their existence.
The head OF the firm, and directing
spirit of its workings, is Mr.. Charles
Eeiche, considerably this side of fifty,
with the comfortable 6onhommic man
ncr of an educated travelled gentle
man. His New York establishment, at
50 Chatham street, is passed by unno-
ticcl by hundreds daily; yet, from it,
orders are supplied from almost every
travelling show in the United States,
from the Geological Garden in London,
and others in Russia, Austria, and else
where. His large supply depot for this
country is i'll Hoboken. Henry Reiche,
his brother and partner, lives in Ger
many, where they have ageneral supply
farm for all the world. with accommoda-
tons and appliances for the keeping of
almost every kind of bird, beast and rep
tile from any country or cline IN that
part of the world which has been OK
plorcd. They are ready at any time
r., f11 ~, Drlar for q !, VT him frnn, q cir n "a
canary through singing birds, display
birds, OF trick birds, up to d flock of
ostriches, OF from a field mouse to an
elephant.
Paul Luhn, one of the Reiche Broth
crs' men, who has lately returned from
Africa with rare birds and animals, tells
interesting stories of the perils of the
hunt. He says: "The lion is a fierce
creature, and the ~lioness, when protect
ing her young. very much worse ; but
from long practice we know just how to
go after them. A good rifle, firm hands,
and steady eyes, and we can soon topple
the old fellow over. The old lady may
take a little longer, but in the end we
are sure to kill her, and then it is no
trouble to pick up and secure the cub.
We try to get these little fellows when
they are about three or four weeks old.
They are then like young puppies, easily
managed, and soon learn to know their
keepers. Leopards, tigers, and all that
kind of animals we get in the same way,
and at about the same age. Baby ele-
plants are hard to get, and the hunt is
very dangerous. The old ones seem to
know instinctively when We are after
their young, and their rage is something
terrible. The trumpeting of the parents
can be heard for a long distance, and
quickly alarms the whole herd. The
rifle is comparatively useless, and try
ing to approach them particularly haz-
ardous yet it has to be done. First,
we try to distract the attention of the
female from her offspring. Then q ma
tive creeps cautiously up from behind,
aud, with one cut of q heavy, broad
bladed knife, sewers the tendons of her
hind feet. She is then disabled, cannot
walk, and soon falls to the ground. We
promptly kill her, secure the ivory, and
capture the little me-. Of course, we
occasionally have q native or two killed
in this kind Of hunt ; but they don't cost
much-ouly IS or Sc apiece. The sheikhs
are paid in advance, and don't care
whether the poor fellows come back,
and so we don't bother much about
them. Baby elephants we like to get
when they are about one year old.
Younger ones are too tender, and older
ones know too. much. They soon get
acquainted with all the camp, and we
have lots of fun with them. They are
are kindly, docile, and as full of capers
as the little niger babies that play with
them.
"But of all fierce, ungovernable,
lusty brutes," the hunter continued,
"the hippopotamus with young is the
very worst, and whenever we start off
to get a baby of that kind, we calculate
to come back with one or more men
missing. In the water they fight like
fends, and in five minutes will crush to
pieces the strongest boat we can use.
They are quick as a flash, too, notwith-
standing their clumsy appearance, and
the oarsman have to be wide awake to
keep out of their way. On shore they
are just as ferocious, and the way they
can hurry their stumpy little legs over
the ground would astonish you. They
die hard, too, and take a heap of killing.
When such a job is over you may be
sure there is great rejoicing among us
but as one little hippopotamus is worth
as much Is half q dozen lions, tigers,
and such truck, we are we'll contented to
take the risk. We cannot get these
babies too young to suit us. One I
remember, though I was not in the
hunt, was captured the very day it was
born, and the hunters and attendants
brought it up on the bottle. 1t is the
same animal that Barnum advertised SO
extensively as the Baby Hippopota-
mus and it is now travelling with his
show. Ostriches We run down on horse
back, and then catch them with the
lasso. 1t is an exciting chase, but not,
particularly dangerous. On these
hunts we are entitled to only the young
animals we capture. The beautiful
skins Of the leopards, lions, and other
animals we kill, the tusks of the ele-
plants, the feathers of the ostriches,
and all other similar spoils go to the
native sheikhs and chiefs and those
old rascals are sharp at a trade.
A sufficient number AMI variety of
animals having been secured, q caravan
is formed to take them across the desert
to Germany or America. This usually
consists of about one hundred camels,
each having it's native driver; thirty or
forty horses for the white men and the
Arab hunters and their attendants; a
flock of from $50 to 200 goats, for their
milk and also for food, and black slaves
to look out for the goats. The wild ami
mails are secured in strong boxes and
carried on the camels' backs. They are
all young, and are fed principally with
goats milk, although occasionally, to
keep them in good spirits and fine con-
dition, they are given pieces OF raw
goats meat. Horses are very cheap
there, ranging from s15 to 500 each
the natives ever cheaper, 50 being
thought m extravagant price per man
for the trip. Milking goats are worth
81 each, and others about fifty cents.