Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-04-29
A MENAGERIE AT SEA.

/ was one of the crew of the African coast
| ing brig Antelope, and on one voyage from
Masimba to Cape Town we put in at Quill
name for water, some of our casks having
beer stove. We had scarcely made fast st
a wharf when a German came aboard 10
| offer US some queer freight. He was an
| agent of a great wild animal firm at Ham
burg, and had just come down to the coast
with rare lot. There was black two
horned rhinoceroS, or borele, three lions, two
panthers and three monstrous serpentS He
had expected to find the firms ship at this
port, but through some misunderstanding
she had not shown up. He wanted to get
the animals TO Cape Town as soon as possible,
and was willing to give Us a good price to
take them. We We're chock full below
hatches and the idea of taking the cages on
deck was far from pleasant
The agent was a persistent fellow and a
! good talker, and before we had our water in
the captain had decided on taking the
freight. a couple of natives were 10 go
alon o care for them, and there would be
no e. Jense TO the brig We looked over the
cages and found them apparently strong and
secure, and when the work of leading began
we had very little trouble. The rhinoceros
was transferred to pen of wood and iron,
| which gave him very little room to spare,
and he behaved himself like gentleman
while we were getting him aboard. indeed,
! the whole collection seemed to be under
! spell The lions acted like frightened dogs
and the panthers never uttered snarl, while
the big serpents seenleS to sleep through it
| all. We made our oihng about sunset, and
! darkness had no sooner settled down and
! the brig got her motion in the seas than we
| found ourselves treated TO a concert which
made every mans hair stand on end It
! may be that the animals were seasick. or
| that the motion of the ship frightened them.
! They broke out with bowls and roars and
/ yelps and screams, and nothing would quiet
them
The rhinoceros didn't propose to stand neu-
trail in that affair, and he uttered such snorts
and 'woOfs, and made such efforts to break
out of his pen that some of the men were
ready to make for the crosstrees It came
on a darkish night, with the wind blowing in
gusts, and not man aboard that brig closed
his eyes III sleep. When the lions were not
roaring the pantbers were screaming and
about once in five minutes the borele would
utter loud ''woofr' and made an attack on
his pen. 1t did no good to throw feed to the
| brutes; hunger had nothing to do with their
conduct. Each one had been captured singly,
and each was full grown and dangerous The
near presence Of men, the sight of each other
and the rough motion of the brig conspired
to thoroughly excite each and every one
The serpents were wide awake and vengeful.
and the rhinoceroS was mad clear through
A more dangerous and vindctiye creature
than the black rhinOceroS cannot be found on
earth. He is afraid of nothing under the sun.
He is boiling over with the sulks twenty
three out Of the twenty four hours each day
in the week. Odds is the difference to him
whether he charges an elephant or Ion. The
first thing which comes in sight sets him of
ON mad charge, and he will never cool
down while there is a show to wreak ven
geance-
The fellow we had on deck was q piece Of
ugliness weighing from 200 to 400 pounds.
He had been caught in a pit, and there had
been no end of trouble to get him down to
the coast While he was in close quarters AMI
had little show to smash things, it was evident
from his actions that be would do the best he
could He kept raking his great horn back
and forth across the bars of his pen, and
whenever any one went near him he exhibited
his anger in a dozen ways.
The night wore away at last, and when
daylight came the beasts ceased their racket.
They were less noisy Oh the second night, and
on the third we had no trouble at all. On the
fourth morning after leaving Ouilirnane,
having had a good breeze all the time, we
were to the south of the lower end of NADIA
gascar, and well into the Indian ocean. Soon
after breakfast the breeze died away and by
c,coxrL yxare I'm a 1aod
hot enough on deck to start the pitch in the
seams. Every sign indicated that we had
lost the wind for some hours. The surface
of the ocean was like glass, with only ground
swell running, and we had scarcely lost
Storage way when we were surrounded bY
sharks believe that fully 100 of the mon
sters came prowling about us, and IS we had
little or nothing 10 do the captain readily
granted US permission to bait them. We
threw over the shark hook, baited with
piece of salt beef, and it had scarcely touched
the water wheh fifteen foot shark ran away
with it. We tailed on &c the line and hauled
him alongside in order to get moose over
his head TO lift on, and we were about ready
to heave and haul when there was great
crash on deck behind us.
The captain and first mate were below. and
was bossing the job of hauling in our cap
tive. We were all aft on the port quarter,
and for few minutes the animals had been /
left to themselves The cause OF the smash +
was the rhinooeros breaking out Of his pen. /
The beast worked il In a. cute way. lie leaned 1
his whole weight on one side, and by and By, /
as the brig lifted and then went down heav- (
lily in the next hollow, the great jar, added I
10 bis dead weight, broke the fastenings Of /
the bars. As we turned be YVES Just emery /
ing from the pen, and at the same moment /
the lions and panthers began 70 roar and /
scream They knew the ugly nature of the
beast. and they probably suspected what was
coming The natives rushed forward, shout
ing and gestur1ng, and hoping 70 drive tbs
borele back but he was not TO be Intimidate1-
HIS ewes began TO snap and his tail 10 switch
and al OF sudden he lowered his head and
charged at Us Being & snail craft, the
space between the cabin roof and the bui-
warss was not wide enough 20 siuit OF tie
body II the boEele, but he made several de-
tarmined attempts 20 come at u before be
turned away.
You would hare thought the ris4 and fan
Of the brig woald have thrown hin down. /
or a. IaaS. made Ll-s careful how be moved
about, but be nevsr rinisd r. ani his lsgs
were As firm ursdsr kim ss Al old sailorz
We were after ropes 80 IzSso him when be
drew hack, vheelei around, and ehs-gsd
forward Tbs first thing be came 70 was the
cage Containing the serp-ntz Is had coEvs-
partner. for ssch &c struck - CT end.
gave IL toss IN tlse ssr, aid IS Z earus dorm
he three biz snakes. Kissing like gssz. gilsies1
II different dIrzstfors ora IN nndsr ~
5n The b-oxsysrit. ard the third 6zr1si I-sto
De ycrs--zst14 Tsse rst{zsS called % rs - look