CIRCUS DAYS 27 



paid the commission and costs. The result of the 

 suit was that I gained a number of friends and 

 established a reputation. 



For the time being, all deals with Mahommed 

 Ariff were off, of course, and so I had to look else- 

 where for business. I induced a Malay hadji, who 

 had made a pilgrimage to Mecca, to take me to his 

 home at Palembang, in the island of Sumatra. He 

 was a buyer of animals from the people of his dis- 

 trict and, as he did much of his selling through 

 Mahommed Ariff, he hesitated at taking me with 

 him. But I pointed out the advisability of having a 

 European agent all white men were considered 

 Europeans. The vision of securing more business, 

 without being robbed constantly by Mahommed 

 Ariff, brought him around to my proposition, and 

 we went together to the Dutch General in Singa- 

 pore. I told the Consul General my plans, and, 

 after I had presented references from the bank, he 

 gave me a passport and a personal letter to the 

 Dutch Resident at Palembang. Then the old hadji 

 and I started off for Sumatra. 



This was really my start in the business of ani- 

 mal collecting. At Singapore I had seen enough 

 to know that the work I wanted to do was not sim- 

 ply to sell the animals at a port, but to capture them 

 in the jungle. My main object in going to Suma- 

 tra was to live with the natives and learn their 

 methods and language, so that, being at the source 

 of the supply of animals, I could capture and sell 



