WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY 
disturbing our proceedings, as I was fearful that the noise 
made by the other keepers would alarm the brute or cause 
him to be restless. Standing under his lower jaw and 
passing the instrument above the swollen part, I, with a 
sharp pull, hooking fast into the skin, cut it through, caus- 
ing a most frightful discharge of very offensive matter; 
the poor beast uttered a loud shriek and rushed from us, 
bleeding, shaking and trembling, but without exhibiting 
any anger. After a little coaxing and talking to he 
allowed us to wash out the wound by syringing it with 
water. On the following morning we determined to 
operate upon the other abscess on the opposite side. We 
had, however, some misgiving as to the result of our 
second attempt to operate upon him, but, to our intense 
surprise, the beast stood perfectly still until the sudden 
cut caused him to start and give another cry like the one 
he uttered the day before. The improvement in the 
animal’s condition after these two operations was most 
remarkable ; the tusks soon made their appearance growing 
through the apertures that had been cut for the discharge 
of the abscesses instead of coming out under the upper 
lip, their ordinary, or I may say their proper, place. 
But to return to “Jumbo’s” early days, I may remark 
that he was very soon strong enough to carry children on 
his back, and, therefore, a new howdah was made for 
him. At that time all the cash handed to the keepers 
of the elephants by the persons who rode on them was 
the keepers’ perquisites. How much they received from 
the visitors will probably never be known, but, as “Jumbo” 
became the great favourite, Scott came in for the lion’s 
share. This, no doubt, was the cause of his refusing to 
have the assistance of any other keeper ; in fact, all the 
keepers had a fear of him, probably not without cause.^ 
^ Since the departure of “Jumbo,” by order of the Council an 
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