The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1888-02-19
,ooD STORIES OF THE PRESENT DAT.
We Take n Menngerie to seq. and it Almost
Gets the Hest OF Us.

MnsimDat 10 CiDb lOWnW We put Ill NJ SutllHHne
for water, some OF our casks having been stove.
We had scarcely made fast Mt a wharf when n
German came aboard to offer us some dueer
frejpht. He was an agent Of n great wild
animal firm at Hamburg, and had Just come
down TO the coast with o rare lot. There was q
block two.horncd rhinoccros or borele, three
lions. two panthers. and three monstrous ser
,onts He had expected to find the firms ship
Mt this mort, but through some misunderstand-
ing she had not shown up. He wanted TO get
,be animals to Cape Town rs soon as possible,
md was willing to give us O good price to take
them, We were chock full below matches, and
Oh, idon OF taking tho cages on deck was far
from pleasant.
The agent was a persistent follow and n good
talSer, and before we had our water In the Cap
tain had decided on taking the freight A
couple OF natives were to 20 along TO care Tor
them, and there would be no expense to the
brig. We looked over the cages and found
them apparently strong and secure. ana When
the work of loading began We had very little
trouble. The rhinoceros was transferred to a
non of wood and iron. which gave him very
little room to spare, and he behaved himself
like n gentleman while we were getting him
aboard. Indeed. the whole collection seemed
TO be under u spell. The lions acted like fright
sned dogs and the panthers never uttered a
snarl, while the big serpents seemed to sleep
through 1t all. We made our ofIlng about sun
set, and darkness had no sooner settled down
and the brig got her motion in tho seas than
we found ourselves treated 70 a concert When
be that tho animals were .seasick. or that the
motion OF the ship frightened them. They
screams. andinothing would ouiet them.
Tho rhinoceros didn't propose to stand neu-
tral' in that affair. and he uttered such snorts
.-l =. u..,nfS " md nNuIa SNnh affnrtd IN hrnAk
out of his pen that some OF the mon were ready
to make for the crosetrees., 1t, came on a dark;
not a man aboard that brig closed his eyes in
sleep. When the lions were not roaring the
panthers We're screaming. and about once IN
did no good to throw iced 70 the Irutes hunger
ono had been captured sinElly. and each was
full grown and, dangerous. The near presence
OF men, the sight OF each other, and the rough
wide awake and yengefui. and the rhinoceros
S MSf v mae { SlssF o]r sasSnsht:h than "A the %sf sla ssn 4EinSs.
eros cannot be found on earth. He Is afraid
OF nothing under the sun. He is boiling over
four hours each day in. the week. Odds is the
difference to him whether. he charges an ele-
E sirSt s ef !" h lion; off r on a ar mad tah ehsr We,e and S0 he win III
never cool down while there Is q showt to wreak
~ugliness weighing from 1900 to 1900 pounds:
been no ERA ., trouble q. {, tS get him down 10y Sn e b ,hs
bis actions that he would do the best he could.
acro aspt the usfb' bars Of Els I PEN Ioi and G Whenever " any
one went near him he exhibited his anger in a
dozen ways.
light came the beasts ceased their racket. They
we're less noisy on the second night, and on the
NOR, morni ms a Alter ne ie a!ins'e o III Hn'i en- having avn leq had
a good breeze all the time. we were to the south
q the lower end of Madagascar, and we'll into
dead calm. and il was hot enough on deck to
s sated tn tSd Rl'S we N haas sS9 i Ssan the wind WIND s ier s soal,
hours. The surface of the, ocean was like
glass. with only a, ground swell running.
s %ere We sa nas sGassds'fS By y0s sh stssTas I S be}ie Seef eh Ms
fully one hundred OF the monsters came prowl-
i tn do oo ths "a Csp Sni as re Ms haa granted ante or us pernlhs
sion to bait them. We threw over. the shark
hoox, baited with a piece of salt beef. and it
teen loot fieottp SHARK rSuf ram away wa Wilt With it. WV" VIZ tailed
On to the line and hauled him alongside in or;
We asr w ss get a : 199s rss oyer to his hsa head an to l hsn on x Ssd
there was a great crash on deck behind us. :.
~, The Captain and first mate were below. AID
was was I Sossing si the ijo Hn Of f hauling iT in our ca CAPTIVE pSee.
We were all aft on the port quarter. and for a
" hul luo iiillithl Hid ptth VII ~
iIinoceros breaking out Of bis pen. The beast
w weifsa on IN On one > s ddeS ava" MsI' by and ies sH. as nj the sb bGis
lifted and then went down heavily. in the
next, hollow. the great jar. added to, his dead
we turned he was Just emerging from the pen,
and at the same moment the lions and panthers
nsfy na IT, { roar Of a she s ssssam and 1 hey f proSa fhs
suspected what was coming The natives
rushed forward. shouting, and gesturing. and
70 be intimidnted. His eyes began to snap, and
his tail to switch. and all of @ sudden he low
erred erred, MS rst he a.. and anac eh Rs + iwae at th u.s. ca b;e,n rGd 2
and the bulwarks WAS not wide enough to ad-
init OF. the body Of the boreIe. but he made
several determined attempts to come at us be-
You would have thought the rise and fall of
t 1ss, sr mm:S %en %im hare rSre,1 1hr SUw him M m dSwP; a Or At
but he never, minded it. and his legs were as
firm under him as IN old sailors. We were
wheeled around. and charged forward. The
first thing he came TO WIS the cage containing
tho ssrpents. 1t had a comparlment for each.
and as it came down the three big snakes, hiss
Ing like geese. Glided in different directions.
nanthors, n second out on the howsprit, and the
Third d sa,Isd Into the iorecastle; The ma "a.
the comparionway into tho cabin, the others
a. w tHt IlulnIlliSt SIlTCuus. i NbS oNt VI
the latter. there being four Of us. and when
about half way to the crOsstrees. we paused to
watch the further actions OF the rhinoceros.
The lions and panthers were raising an awful
racket, and the confusion was dcnfeDing. The
biz beast cleared his horn Of a portion OF The
cage hanging to II, and then struck that con
taining the panthers. The beasts were liber-
deck the lions roared and ,raved until We had
to stop our ears. One oil the panthcrs ran nfl
and leHped into the yawl boat ut the davits and
crouched under a thwart. and the other hid
under the bedding we had brought up to air
and spread at the heel Of the bowsprit. :,
The borele was now thoroughly enraged, and
without deigning a glance Mt the Danthers. he
smashed. into the pen of lions and made kin.
dlings of 1t. Tho largest OF the three lions
spranc on the borele's back as no came put o.
the pen, and perhaps his sharp claws inflicted
some damage, He no sooner leapcd to the
deck than tho big beast chased him az 10 the
lions. disappeared, down the foroeastIle, while
the third crouched down by the water butt and
kept up a fearful growing. No ships crew eve
was pretty hard to shy what should BIO done
and 1t was a full hour before we got
ms this time the borele drove tho
the panther out from under the bedding into