50 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
I thank Mr. Basil Peto for raising this mare's 
nest', for if he had made enquiry on the telephone, 
I could have informed him that this was a direct 
shipment — Calcutta to New York. I am under 
an impression that "Hamlyn's Menagerie Maga- 
zine" has been sent regularly to the Peto family; 
that being so, the fact must have been known to 
him — .just as well to all my other readers — that 
every consignment, every purchase in this coun- 
try, is for New York. 
I have stated times without number that all 
purchases are for the United States. These petty 
persecutions emanate from a Clique of Amateurs 
who> seek to destroy the Wild Animal Trade. 
It has been rumoured that they will have the 
audacity on the return to normal times to ask 
for powers to vest the trading in natural history 
specimens to themselves. Let me tell them they 
will fail. Being quite incapable of managing any 
semblance of business at the present, they will 
utterly fail to do so in normal times. 
It is a pity that the valuable time of the House 
of Commons is wasted on such frivolous ques- 
tions. 
When Col. Lockwood first brought this mat- 
ter up in the House of Commons in March, 1917, 
I was informed that a roar of applause greeted 
the questioner. That " roar of applause" emanated 
from a body of men who had no knowledge, 
neither did they understand the question at issue, 
and if they applaud every question of which they 
are entirely ignorant, well — I congratulate them. 
They are indeed first class muddlers. That 
" roar of applause" has lost to. this country about 
£1,000 monthly. This thousand pounds repre- 
sents actual expenses; believe me, gentle reader, 
I am stating actual facts when I state that with 
two consignments monthly, ^1,000 expenses alone 
are spent in Freight, Shipping Charges, Dock 
Charges, Cartage ( and Railway Expenses (see 
"The Ressurrection of ai Trade"). This money 
was good American money spent in Great Britain. 
Besides the above there are the large sums spent 
in Calcutta, Sumatra, South Africa, and else- 
where. 
We are governed by a wonderful body of men 
Avho very seldom understand the question at is- 
sue. For instance, the freight alone on the "City 
of Edinburgh" consignment was over £586. I 
am given to understand that a considerable por- 
tion of this freight is Government money. I do 
not believe there are a dozen men in the House of 
Commons who are aware of that fact. An ex- 
horbitant freightage was charged, the majority of 
which went to the very people who greeted the 
stoppage of this trade with a "roar of applause." 
Can anything be more ridiculous? Once more, I 
congratutaie you, Gentlemen of the House of 
Commons ! 
And now a few words on the Press of Great 
Britain. 
These gentlemen seem to regard anything 
connected with this business in a very interesting 
and amusing light. "The Times," November 
9th, gives me a wonderful gratuitous advertise- 
ment : — 
A SHIPLOAD OF MONKEYS. 
As Mr. Wardle, for the Board of Trade, 
expressed complete ignorance of the consign- 
ment of wild animals to which Mr. Peto called 
his attention in the House of Commons yester- 
day, and asked for particulars, his attention 
may be drawn to the following notice in " Ham- 
lyn's Menagerie Magazine" for October, 1917 : 
John D. Harnlyn. 
Business as Usual. 
To arrive on the " City of E dinburgh" 
from Calcutta in charge of a, Nepaulese at- 
tendant : GOO Rhesus monkeys, three tigers, 
five leopards, five Indian bears, one Indian 
lynx, one fishing cat, two birds of paradise, 
200 avadavats, five Indian hornbills, seven 
barbets, with other odds and ends ; value 
£l,700i 
They have my thanks for above. 
"The Weekly Dispatch" was the only paper 
to enquire about these 600 ! monkeys. Here it is. 
November 11th, 1917 :— 
600 MONKEYS. 
" Shipment not for London," says the Importer. 
Mr. J. D. Hamlyn, the naturalist, of St. 
George's-in-the-East, is very indignant about 
Mr. Basil Peto's question in the House of Com- 
mons asking whether the arrival of 600 monkeys 
"sufficient to fill the whole House," is desirable 
at the present time. 
"If Mr. Peto had taken the trouble to come 
to me first," said Mr. Hamlyn yesterday, "I 
could have told him the 600 monkeys were not 
coming to England at all. They were shipped 
from Calcutta to- New York direct and will ar- 
rive there to-day. 
"The Government have done a very foolish 
thing in prohibiting the importation of live ani- 
mals to this country. In pre-war days I used 
to pay about £1,000 a month in freight, dock 
charges, and cartage. Now I ship all my ani- 
mals direct to New York from both India and 
Africa. 
" Hardly a penny of this money comes to 
Egnland now. Why the Government put a 
ban on the buisness goodness only knows ! It 
could not have been shortage of shipping, for 
they were always brought over on deck. 
