36 BEASTS AND MEN 
August the cholera broke out in Hamburg. Now my pets 
had perished with all the symptoms of cholera, and if the 
correct diagnosis had occurred to us, it is conceivable that the 
dire disaster which overtook Hamburg that autumn might 
have been prevented. It would seem that the delicate con- 
stitutions of the exotic animals were very susceptible to this 
plague, for, as I have explained, the cholera attacked the 
beasts for some months before any human beings suffered 
from its ravages. How true it is that cholera is spread 
through the agency of foul drinking water, was clearly de- 
monstrated by the fact that after the veterinary surgeon had 
ordered the animals to be given boiled water only, no more 
of them were attacked by the disease. 
In spite of these great losses I still had a few animals left 
which I hoped to exhibit at Chicago. Then a further diffi- 
culty arose. One day towards the end of 1892 I suddenly 
received a cablegram from a gentleman who was my partner 
in this American enterprise, in which I was informed that 
I must send my animals over to England immediately, for if 
I failed to do this the United States Government would not 
permit me to bring them to Chicago in the following year. 
The American authorities feared that the beasts might 
spread the cholera in the United States, and they insisted 
upon this period of quarantine in England. To England 
therefore the whole collection went, regardless of expense, 
and there the creatures sojourned for the whole of that winter. 
Luckily for me, the British Government did not meddle in 
the affair, and raised no objection to England being utilised 
as an asylum for the beasts. Next year the menagerie 
was shipped across the Atlantic and duly established in 
Chicago, Just before the opening of the exhibition, Mehr- 
mann fell ill, and I was compelled to put the chief troupe of 
performing animals through their tricks myself, although I 
had had nothing to do with them for five months previously. 
However, the show went off quite well. . 
Since that time I have sent out many troupes of perform- 
