98 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 
his palace and grounds, we came to the cages back 
of the jail, which contained three tigers, two black 
and one spotted leopard. The Sultan, pointing to 
one cage which contained a beautiful specimen of 
tiger, young, beautifully striped, and a bright 
golden yellow, said he wished to present that tiger 
to the Melbourne Society as a gift, and, turning 
to me said, “Taian Mayer, you can get him when- 
ever you wish,” he knowing I was Mr. La Souef’s 
agent. 
Mr. La Souef was delighted and thanked the 
Sultan in his and the Society’s name, promising 
to put his gift in a prominent place in the Melbourne 
Garden. 
On our return to Singapore, I had quite an argu- 
ment with Mr. La Souef regarding the flimsy, un- 
suitable cages he was having made to suit himself, 
and every time I ventured to point out the inad- 
visability of certain cages being built under his 
directions, he would invariably say, “Mr. Mayer, 
you may be right. I also am right, and I have 
handled animals longer than you.” As the ani- 
mals were his and he insisted on having his way, 
I simply carried out his instructions. His idea 
was to build large, roomy cages from the cheapest 
of wood (siraih), having a space between the floor 
and the cross section holding the iron bars, to clean 
out the cages and to hand in food. 
I never would think of shipping an animal in 
such a cage. First it is too large and roomy, giv- 
