16 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
the returning Governor-General, Earl Buxton, who after having 
served the usual period of office, continued until the war ended. 
After the tenseness of the last few hours—the farewell speeches 
and good-bys to friends—he seemed surprised and relieved on 
turning away from the ship’s side to see my birds and to gaze, 
by way of a change, on a different form of animal life. 
- The voyage was a pleasant one, and my collection arrived safely 
at Southampton. On leaving the ship I saw people becoming 
excited at the thought of getting a few pieces of baggage through 
the customs and on to the train. How I envied these folk with 
their simple problems. Here was I with hundreds of delicate 
birds needing every care and attention, compelled to rush hither 
and thither trying to settle clearance formalities, with which I was 
unfamiliar. 
On arrival in London I rang up the livestock department of one 
of the big stores, and with their approval took my consignment to 
them pending an assessment of the value of everything and a 
satisfactory settlement over price. The manager—having what 
might be called a highly developed business instinct—tried to 
take advantage of my predicament by offering me a ridiculously 
low price, but to his annoyance and surprise I refused to bargain 
with him and immediately got in touch with a rival firm. They 
jumped at the opportunity of receiving such a collection and 
promptly sent a motor-van to fetch it, but the change-over was 
anything but easy. The manager, seeing his chance of exploiting 
me slipping through his fingers, became obstinate and unhelpful. 
We were on the third floor, and I was told that I could not make 
use of the service lift; so I went down and searched the streets. On 
a nearby corner stood a young fellow with his hands in his pockets 
and his mouth open. He looked like an out-of-work, so I tapped 
him on the shoulder and said in my best cockney, “Want to earn 
a few bob, cock?” When he had recovered from the shock, he 
followed me meekly up the stairs and in a few minutes we were 
struggling down three flights, each sharing a somewhat cumber- 
some box which had to be kept level to avoid disturbing the birds. 
It took numerous trips to complete the task and I was thankful 
to be able to sit on the running-board of the van and relax. 
This second firm treated me generously, and in a few days 
