238 THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF EUROPE 



sides was grazed. Finally, I fell down, and escaped 

 in a miraculous manner. But I now come to what I 

 consider the greatest escape of all. I was superintend- 

 ing the lowering of a large alligator into a pit, when, 

 with a sweep of its tail, it knocked me right into the 

 middle of a dozen large alligators and some polar bears. 

 I jumped out in a second, or I should most assuredly 

 have been torn to pieces. I could tell you many 

 other events in my life, which you would scarcely 

 credit ; but come, I must show you round the 

 menas^erie.' 



What a wonderful place that menagerie is, to be 

 sure ! There are no less than three training cages, 

 where lions, elephants, tigers, dogs, and bears are all 

 taught to perform together most astonishing tricks. 

 The training of these animals goes on all day. 



' Just step on one side a minute,' calmly says Carl 

 Hagenbeck. 



The next instant a cage was opened, and two large 

 lions bounded out into the open past me without taking 

 any notice, and with a jump were into a large circular 

 cage, where they were put to do tricks by an attendant, 

 who played with them as you or I would play with 

 kittens. They were rough, too ; they jumped on his 

 back, and they ran at him and pawed him, but he 

 didn't seem to mind a bit. In a second training cage 

 another man, armed only with a stout whip, led in one 

 by one six tigers and three lions, all full-grown, and, 

 catching each by the neck, first put a chain collar 

 round it, and then tethered each to the iron bars 

 of the cage at equal distances apart ; a large barrow 

 of horses' heads and flesh was then brought in. and 



