50 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



information I could about animals and made myself 

 known to dealers. I wanted to make trips to the 

 interior, but to do so I needed a special permit from 

 Bangkok. Instead, I made agreements with all 

 the dealers that they were to send their animals 

 to me, and arranged with the captains and chinchiis 

 of the coast-boats for the transportation of the 

 crates. By offering to pay the freight and give 

 them a fair share of the profit, I cut off a large part 

 of Ariff's business. 



On my return to Singapore, I found a letter 

 from the director of the Melbourne Zoological So- 

 ciety, suggesting that I come to Australia with a 

 consignment of animals. A few weeks later I 

 arrived at Melbourne with a black leopard, twenty- 

 five small monkeys, two small orang-outangs, a pair 

 of civet cats and numerous other animals. Mr. La 

 Souef, the director, and his son, who had just been 

 appointed director of the zoological gardens at 

 Perth, met me at the dock. His son bought the 

 entire consignment. The result of this visit was my 

 appointment as agent of the Australian zoological 

 gardens. In return for giving them first call on any 

 animals that came into my hands, I was given a 

 retaining fee. The most important part of the 

 agreement was that the animals were to be shipped 

 f. o. b. Singapore and that I was thus released from 

 all the risks of transportation. 



It happened too often that animals died aboard 

 ship, after weeks had been spent in capturing them 



