The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1902-04-17
ANIMALS. ON SHIPBOARD.
How Wild Beasts are Carried to Market.
QIeslies' Weekly.)

Capt. T. Golding is a robust and ruddy
English skipper who knows, as well as
any one, how to carry wild animals on
long sea voyage. He has just delivered
successfully to the New York Geological
Garden at the Bronx a large cargo of
strange beasts from the far East.
1.-The first time | carried a cargo said
Capt Golding, II lost lot Of them. It's
no wonder; because you can't imagine a
more complete change for the animals
than to take them from their native wild
haunts, where they have had air and Tree
dom, and then lock them up in a little
cage and chuck them on shipboard, TO be
carried through changing climates, fed on
different food, and subjected to an entirely
different mode OF living. 1t is always a
surprise to me that SO many OF them pun
through. You've got to take better care
of big, thick hided rhinoceros, for in
stance, than you would Of a little SICK
child.
THE first time / ever carried python
on ship voyage l had peculiar exper-
fence with him. I'll tell you that all this
talk about the big snakes being able to
fascinate and control birds, by fixing Their
eyes on the little futtering creatures, Is
bosh. I had always read about it in my
childhood story-boOks and had seen pic
lures of an innocent bird waiting for its
doom in the presence Of the glittering, fas-
cinating gaze of q huge snake. l remem-
Der that / always felt very sorry for the
poor little bird.
when | started from the Orient with
my cargo Of wild animals, | brought along
lot of little japanese ROSTERS TO feed my
python and to be cooked for some OF my
other animals. | had supposed that the
python was a most dangerous snake.
used TO be afraid to go anywhere near him
But the python isn't poisonous. lie can
hurt you unless he can get his coils around
you, and he can't do that very well IN a
/ morrow cage. So / don't mind going in q
cage with one now.
After I had been out about day
thought my python must be getting hun
CRY. He lay quietly in his cage when
threw q little japanese rooster IN to him
went away then, because | didn't care
10 see the poor little chicken fascinated
by the deadly snake and then swallowed
whole When 1 returned to the cage, af'
ter about half an hour, what do you sup
pose | saw? The little japanese rooster
was stanting on the python's head, try
ing to pick the snakes eyes out. got the
little rascal out Of the cage as soon as
could | thought be might kill the biz
snake.
When l saw that the python couldn't
kill a chicken, / tried rabbits. | put two
Of them in the snakes cage. At first thu
little Dummies were almost scared to death
They scurried into one corner Of the Gag
and huddled there. The python did no
seem 10 take any interest in them.
After a while sent my Chinese sailor
who always looks after my animals fol
me, TO see whether the python had made 6
meal John came back to me grinning.
"'Suake no eatey labbit,' he said.
And, sure enough, when | peered int
the python's cage, there were the it'll,
rabbits, having a game of hide and-seek
hopping about all over the great, greas,
coils Of the snake. After that we didn'
bother the python with offers of food, ant
learned later that frequently pythons q
without eating for six months. During al
that time they lie sluggish and inactive.
Then at the start" continued Capt
, Golding, Il had trouble with my hairy
! cared rbinoceros, who is very rare speci
! men; SO l was very particular about him
; He wouldn't eat. In his native state h
lives on branches and leaves and the ten
der shoots of trees. The best l could ge
for him was Australian hay and sweet pc
tatoes. Australian hay is simply oat
straw with the oats left on. 1t is yer,
nOurishing. But think it must have beel
too dry for Rhino. Then l thought of
scheme to tempt his appetite. / had hear
that in the Philippine Islands our Ameri
can soldiers had had trouble in gcttin;
| their horses to eat this hay, and that the,
had sprinkled molasSes on it and foun,
that the horses then took TO il very well
| tried this with the rhinoceros and he a
once relished the hay. Then, after he hat
gotten used to eating if, stopped sprink