SEA TRAGEDY OF THE JUNGLE FOLK 155 



the excitement might be too much for the beasts. 



At my animal house, I put them in a quiet spot 

 and left Ali in charge with strict orders against 

 letting too many people come to see them. Then 

 I went to the cable office and sent to the Antwerp 

 Zoological Gardens news of the capture. 



There was no question in my mind as to what 

 the answer to my cablegram would be, and, before 

 it arrived, I made all the arrangements for ship- 

 ping. Antwerp offered $10,000 each for the ani- 

 mals delivered. I knew that I could get offers of 

 $25,000 or more in the United States, but that the 

 orangs would not be able to stand the voyage. I 

 sent another message to Antwerp, saying that I 

 was sailing and requesting that arrangements be 

 made for shipping by rail from Marseilles. 



A few days later, the cages were swung aboard 

 and we started eastward. Ali accompanied me to 

 care for the animals. 



From the moment the steamer headed out to sea, 

 the orang-outangs began to fail. They became 

 deathly seasick, especially the female, and refused 

 food. Ali and I were with them constantly, tempt- 

 ing their appetites with choice bits of food and doing 

 everything possible to make them comfortable. The 

 male grew better but the female lost strength rap- 

 idly. Finally she slumped down to the floor of the 

 cage, unable to sit up; she paid no attention to us 

 when we reached into the cage and touched her. 



One morning she curled up on the floor, buried 



