516 WILD ANIMALS. 



large number of birds of various liiads,^ two foxes, and four sea- 

 lions, and with these he started on his return journey. He left 

 Port Stanley in the packet " Fawn," which meets the mail steamer 

 at Monte Video, but the weather was so unfavourable that nearly 

 all his collection died. The four sea-lions, however, remained in . 

 good health and condition for some time, but a passenger on 

 board having died of yellow fever, the stock of fish that Lecompte 

 had brought on board to feed his charges with was condemned on 

 account of the smell, and had to be thrown overboard. As a con- 

 sequence, the poor man was doomed to the disappointment of 

 seeing three out of his four sea-lions die. The survivor was kept 

 alive as far as Lisbon mainly by the flying-fishes which fell on the 

 deck at night, and were purchased from the sailors who picked 

 them up. At Lisbon a fresh supply of food was obtained, and the 

 animal arrived safely in the Zoological Gardens, where, under the 

 skilful training of her captor, she soon became nearly as popular 

 as her predecessor. 



Frank Buckland considers that "if ever there was affection be- 

 tween animals and men, it was the mutual love that existed 

 between the seals at the Gardens and Lecompte ; nor do I think," 

 he writes, " it was entirely cupboard love, though undoubtedly the 

 basket of fish more or less influenced their ideas. He had names 

 for his seals at the Gardens, and the seals knew their names — at 

 least Kate and Fanny did." 



Lecompte died about ten years ago. During his last illness he 

 used frequently to be wheeled in a chair at his own request to 

 see his favourite seals. He was originally a French man-o'-war's 

 man. As a keeper in the service of the Zoological Society his 

 polite conduct, his well-known welcome of " Bon jour, monsieur," 

 and the love he had for his charges, soon earned him the respect 

 of all visitors, and his loss was greatly felt. Buckland, who 

 regretted him, writes, "Peace to the memory of this faithful 

 servant and sincere friend of dumb animals — dumb in the ordinary 

 sense of the word to most people, but possessing a voice and 

 language well understood by their much-lamented master, Francois 

 Lecompte." 



2 See "Zoological Society's Proceedings " for 1868, p. 529. 



