164 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LION TAMER 



made the walls and floors resound. Evidently a fierce 

 fight was going on somewhere. Hastily dressing, I 

 hurried to the scene, and discovered that the black bear 

 had contrived to overthrow the bars which separated his 

 cage from that of his neighbour, the bison, upon whom he 

 had fallen, and, hugging him bear fashion, was now, with 

 his long sharp tusks, pitilessly devouring his hump, buffalo 

 hump being esteemed a delicacy. The danger was im- 

 minent, for if in their struggles the door should become 

 open there was no end to the consequences that might 

 ensue. Throwing myself between the combatants I held 

 one by the neck while I sent the other flying back to his 

 den. Thus the peril was averted, and next day it was 

 as if nothing had happened, except that the bison was 

 humpless. 



The success of my menagerie had now become so 

 generally acknowledged that, after visiting all the principal 

 towns in the south of France, I crossed the frontier and 

 went south into Italy, where each stopping-place was the 

 scene of fresh triumphs. In Florence the king and all 

 his court were present at a performance, where I surpassed 

 myself in daring and audacity. The king applauded 

 louder than anyone, and afterwards desired that I should 

 be presented to him in order that he might congratulate 

 me himself. Encouraged by my successes, I determined 

 to push on to Eome. There a terrible catastrophe came 

 near taking place. I was seated, one afternoon, at the 

 desk taking the tickets, just as the performance was about 

 to begin, and the enclosure was already crammed with 

 people, when suddenly there were heard heart-rending 

 cries, succeeded by furious roarings, and frantic shrieks 

 of ' Help ! help ! ' In an instant I was in the enclosure, 

 where I found general panic, women fainting, men 

 yelling, and all eyes turned in the direction of the lions' 

 cage, where Venturelli, one of my men, hung suspended 

 in mid-air from the claws of four lions ; one was devouring 

 his arm, blood from which spurted in all directions. 



