An Amateur’s Experience in Importing Humming Birds 127


try and make Dutch stewards understand what I wanted done with

them. None of the bigger cages would fit in a cabin, so, to make

matters worse, I had to take all the wicker cages out of the Hummer

crates and carry them one by one to the cabin. The smaller cases

with wire fronts were all placed in a position so that the birds got

no light or air. Blank despair can only describe my feelings; add

to this acute seasickness and you will see how black things seemed.

The ship had allotted to me a third-class cabin in the worst part of

the ship for my birds, but luckily other passengers complained and

I was moved to two outside cabins in a more secluded and unused

part of the ship. The heat was so great that within a minute of

entering the cabin everything I wore was as wet as if I had got into

a bath.


I arranged the birds as best I could and went from them to my

bed for several days, wondering if I could manage to hold out, and

to add to my troubles the glass Hummer bottles kept on breaking

at such a rate that I thought I should never manage to keep any

Hummers alive. I can only put this down to the terrible heat as,

I am glad to say, none cracked after Madeira, so the situation was

saved.


I was greatly assisted on board by a charming Dutch lady,

Mrs. Van Eeghen, who offered to help and joined me at 6.30 a.m.

and 4.30 p.m., when we fed the birds. At midday I also changed

the Hummers’ food. It used to take us two hours to do all the

feeding, twice a day, working hard. I followed out Mr. Cordier’s

instructions about feeding to the letter, and they were pretty

strenuous.


On the whole the losses I suffered were moderate considering the

terrible and very sudden changes in temperature. After Vigo it

became very cold, and owing to the determination of my kind

friend, Mrs. Van Eeghen, the place was kept warm enough. She

was a great help in managing the Dutch Engineer and the Purser,

and also in organizing the preparation for landing the birds at

Southampton and tackling the stewards in their own language. We

packed everything as warmly as we could, stuck paper over cracks

in the crates, and hoped for the best. Overseer Bailey, of the Zoo,



