155 



paring- them. I have so far provided the keeper with a saddle 

 horse, but he cannot carry three or four quarts of milk and half 

 a dozen loaves of bread, to say nothing of meat, rice and other 

 necessaries, on horseback. He must, consequently, be pro- 

 vided with some means of transportation, especially so long as 

 his own living is to be considered, and his absence from the 

 station should be limited to the shortest possible time. Mer- 

 chants will not deliver regularly small or cheap quantities of 

 provisions at an isolated place like the station, so they have to 

 be fetched. Furthermore, to require a man to live there and 

 to be there night and day — to be responsible for the animals 

 he has charge of — and then, on a salary of $45 a month, to 

 compel him to provide housekeeping facilities for himself, I 

 fear is asking a little too much. I have kept Mr. Davenport, 

 the keeper, at my house for the past two months, at an expense 

 of at least $25 per month, but could not afford to continue to 

 do so, besides furnishing him a horse to use in getting to and 

 from the station. Since taking up permanent residence at the 

 station he has slept on a cot in the enclosure among the dogs, 

 the unwarranted publication in the daily papers of quarantined 

 dogs having been seen on Fort street regularly, making him 

 apprehensive of attempts to remove certain animals during his 

 absence. He has, so to speak, been living the life of a dog, 

 with the inevitable result that he has given me notice that he 

 is ready to quit when the next transport for San Francisco 

 arrives. How and Avhere to find a man to take his place I am 

 unable to say and I would therefore earnestly request that a 

 sufficient allotment of funds be granted for the extension and 

 improvement of the kennels and quarters so as to make it pos- 

 sible for a man who is both willing and anxious to do so, to 

 care for and protect the animals of which he has been placed 

 in charge. 



(Dr. Norgaard here inserts an itemized statement of what 

 is needed, the total cost being $1.000. — Ed.) 



That awnings or fiies over the kennels are necessary will be 

 seen from the fact that the owners of quarantined dogs, in 

 four cases, have provided such protection against the sun as 

 they were able to aft'ord, ranging from the regular army tent 

 fly, costing ten dollars, to an old sheet. A letter from another 

 owner requests that such shelter be provided for his dog, which 

 is detained against his will, and claims as his right under the 

 circumstances that every lucans to make the animal comfort- 

 able during the prolonged confinement be j^rovidcd. The letter 

 is appended herewith. 



A letter from ^ifelbourne states that six trained dogs will 

 arri\e here on the next Makura, leaving Sydney May 6. The 

 owner requests permission to land them without quarantine 

 luuler cover of a certificate of health issued by a sanitary offi- 



