HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
71 
merits, as is the spread of the rabbit from the 
Spanish peninsula; lest enthusiastic amateurs 
should introduce really dangerous animals, the 
Senate had to pass a law restricting- the impor- 
tation of African live stock. As things are in 
modern times, the staples of our live stock trade 
arc animals which arc nuisances in their own 
country; there has to be some limitation, all agree, 
on lions and tigers, bears and hyaenas, crocodiles 
and snakes ! 
\; r can elephants be allowed to increase as 
they like, while the crustiness of rhinoceroses and 
hippopotami often gets them into trouble; and as 
to monkeys, the commonest and most popular of 
all foreign animals, they arc for the most part 
just as mischievous in a wild state as one would 
expect them to be from their behaviour in cap- 
tivity, especially such species as baboons, rhesus, 
and capuchins. 
The same thing applies to most parrots, and 
even the finches can do a great deal of harm in 
countries where even millet is an important food 
crop for human beings. So can cranes and wild 
geese among mere familiar crops; the latter have 
not been overcome even in our own country as 
yet, and in rice districts ducks and teal do a lot 
of harm, the aquatic growth of this crop being 
just what suits them. Some waterfowl, such as 
ruddy sheldrakes, mandarins, and black swans, 
arc innocent enough, waterfowl w r ere never im- 
ported in any large numbers, and the same applies 
to insectivorous cage birds, with the exception 
of Pekin robins, which have a wide range and can 
look after 1 themselves well. They were supposed 
to have become established in the Duke of Bed- 
ford's country, and it would be interesting to 
know if they weathered last winter successfully — 
they are knowing enough for anything. 
Of course there are some people who would 
crush trade and sport together, and restrict ani- 
mal capture and killing to zoos and museums, but 
I do not think this would be fair to the public at 
large, who are becoming more and more inter- 
ested in natural history in all its branches, while 
the highest skill is generally now to be found 
among dealers and amateurs rather than profes- 
sionals who have received what is called a scien- 
tific education in zoology, the said education sim- 
ply meaning a training in anatomy, not in animal 
management. The real naturalists are still keen 
fanciers and good game-keepers and their like, 
and I sympathise with these far more than with 
the journalist who not long ago objected to " using- 
the Hunnish method of poison against the homely 
familiar rat." Next he quoted with approval a 
mediaeval poem which spoke of "our little brother 
the ass"; then he died, and perhaps saved the 
public the expense of maintaining him in a lunatic 
asylum, for he may have been sickening fur the 
complaint that troubled Nebuchadnezzar" when he 
went to p/rass. 
WANTED A BOY. 
By John D. Hamx-yn. 
I thank the "Daily News, 1'hc People, " 
"The News of the World," with various other 
publications, for their kind notices, also their 
assistance in "Finding a Boy" lor this trade. 
Quite 70'0 applications have been received up to 
Sunday, the 13th January. 
The majority of applicants arc barred by 
military age, being from 17 upwards. 
How an apprenticed engineer of 18, working 
in Chatham Dockyard, could fill this situation I 
cannot imagine. Whether a lirsl-c.lass shipping- 
clerk with a well-known Leadenhall Street firm, 
would take kindly to feeding and cleaning wild 
animals causes me to wonder. 
These young men do not understand my re- 
quirements. The first essential is to be able to 
love your work, to interest yourself with your 
charges, study their peculiarities, their joys and 
sorrows. These arc the rudiments of the success- 
ful dealer in wild animals. The greatest natural- 
ists of the past and present have always been 
lovers of the brute creation. 
Take, for example, the late A. D. Bartlett, 
for many years Superintendent of the Zoological 
Gardens, Regents Park, the present Mr. James 
Jennison, of Belle Yue, Manchester, and Supt. 
Snyder, of Central Park, New York; these men 
take quite a parental interest in all their charges. 
Without that interest and desire one can never 
be a trading naturalist. 
Speaking for myself I candidly admit that mv 
only pleasure on this disturbed planet is the busi- 
ness of wild animals. I have devoted the morning 
of the seventh day for the past thirty years when 
in London entirely to a "look round" just to feed 
the various specimens with tit-bits here and there. 
Only twice have I broken that rule. Week-ends 
do not, appeal to me. It is far more edifying to 
my mind to spend am spare time in the company 
of an intelligent chimpanzee, a baby tiger, a 
zebra colt, or lion cub, than in the miscellaneous 
collection of humanity at some of our seaside 
resorts. Take Brighton, for instance, at the 
present time ! That is my experience after sixtv 
years of strenuous life. 
The naturalist's business is a disappointing- 
one. Loves labour is often lost. One instance : 
After stopping up five nights to attend to a sick 
gorilla, it died. Every possible attention was 
shewn to this intelligent creature, our varied cli- 
mate killed it. 
To return to the duties of the "Boy"; those 
who require fixed times for working, a super- 
abundance of cigarettes during working hours, 
with picture palaces at night, are useless in this 
business. 
