CIRCUS DAYS 23 
I said that was true. I would leave New York 
on the third and catch the steamer leaving London 
on the fourth of July at Brindisi, at the tail end 
of Italy, as it was due there on the fourteenth. 
T left New York on the steamer New York on the 
third, arrived in London on the tenth, stayed two 
days in London, traveled overland through France, 
Switzerland and Italy, and on the evening of the 
fourteenth walked up the gangplank of the P. & O. 
boat and the twenty-eighth day of July, after tran- 
shipping at Aden, stepped ashore in Bombay. 
Well, there was no such elephant; nobody had 
ever heard of any that size, let alone seen one near 
it, either in Bombay or throughout India, and I 
went through India looking for it. The largest I 
ever saw belonged to the Maharajah of Mysore. 
He was, as nearly as I could judge, about twelve 
feet, but a bad one and old, always heavily chained, 
and out of the question for show purposes. 
After I left Singapore, I had been thinking con- 
stantly of becoming a dealer in animals. The more 
I considered the idea, the more it appealed to me. 
I was becoming tired of circus life, especially since 
my work did not bring me into contact with the 
animals. On my return to New York I found Gay- 
lord and told him about my plans. He encouraged 
me and introduced me to many men I was glad to 
know, such as Donald Burns, who was a dealer 
and had a store in Roosevelt Street. 
