481 
F363 
BIRD 
4.NCIERS’ JOURN 
AND 
POULTRY EXCHANGE. 
VOL. I. 
PHILADELPHIA, AUGUST 13, 1874. 
No. 33. 
WILD ANIMALS FROM AFRICA. 
A GREAT HUNTING EXPEDITION INTO THE OLD WORLD 
TROPICS — CATCHING GIRAFFES, LIONS, LEOPARDS, AND 
HYENAS, FOR EXPORTATION. 
The Bremen steamer, Graf Bismarck, arrived recently, in 
the forward steerage of which were six giraffes, three hyenas, 
and two leopards. The giraffes were in splendid condition and 
so tame that they would take their food from the hands of 
a stranger. They were tied to posts by halter straps, the 
experiment of caging having been frequently fatal. Two 
years ago six of them were shipped in cages, but all broke 
their necks, or pined and died on the voyage.. The hyenas 
and leopards were closely caged, and behind the strong bars 
they snarled and clawed at every one who approached. 
The leopards are of the species known in Africa as the hunt- 
ing leopards. They are easily tamed, and the native 
princes use them in lieu of hounds, to scent and pull down 
game. The animals were landed last night, the giraffes 
being marched to the Central Park, and the leopards taken 
to the Brothers Keiche’s store. They are a part of a cara- 
van which crossed the great desert of Sahara some weeks ago, 
under the care of an agent sent out from Alfeld, Germany, 
fourteen months ago, to capture and buy giraffes, elephants, 
antelopes, rhinoceroses, hippopotami, and other African 
animals and birds, for zoological collections. Having 
reached Alexandria, Egypt, by steamer, the expedition 
travelled by land to Cairo, and thence to Saukin, or Suakin, 
a seaport of the Bed Sea, by steamer. Here they were on 
the borders of the great desert, over which they used the 
road marked out by Vassiers and Malsac in 1852. 
HUNTING IN AFRICA. 
Finally they halted at Homeron to begin their hunting 
for the giraffe and other animals. They had no difficulty in 
inducing the natives to assist them, and soon were in posses- 
sion of twenty-seven giraffes, two rhinoceroses, two ele- 
phants, four Kaffir buffaloes, five hyenas, three leopards, 
twenty-one antelopes, two wart hogs, two huzzar monkeys 
(which look like soldiers on a small scale), one jackal, three 
secretary birds, three African eagles, and a number of birds 
of brilliant plumage. A herd of cows and goats was also 
brought together, to feed the animals on the march. The 
natives captured the young of all savage animals by driving 
away the mothers. They found the lair of the lion, and 
placing a cage at' the door, smoked the beast out and took 
the cubs. The young of the giraffe were easily run down, 
the mother deserting them in her wild flight. The young 
are readily tamed and weaned, and with proper care are 
easily raised. The cub of the tiger is harder to capture, as 
the mother, no matter how sudden the surprise, takes it in 
her mouth and runs. The caravan was manned by ninety- 
two servants and sixty-two camel leaders, most of the for- 
mer being Nubians, and all of the latter Arabians. Twenty- 
six servants were constantly on guard over the provisions, 
against the voracity of the Nubians. The servants received 
$4.00 each for the journey of eight weeks, and the hire of a 
camel for the same time was $6.00. 
THE DESERT CARAVANS. 
The return journey over the desert was long and dangerous. 
At times the natives refused water to the caravan, and more 
than once, it was only after a long fight, and the loss of a 
Nubian or two, that they were forced to yield possession of 
the coveted well or spring. At night the jackals and hyenas 
howled around the camp, making sleep impossible, and ren- 
dering a large night watch a necessity. Finally, Saukin 
was reached ; the voyage over the storm-tossed Red Sea 
made; the land journey through Egypt accomplished; and 
in May the animals were embarked at Alexandria, for 
Trieste, France, whence their passage to Germany was by 
rail. The giraffes landed are worth from $2500 to $3000 
each. 
FLIGHTS OF “THE FANCY.” 
BY “THE ODD MAN OUT.” 
[Two years ago, while traveling through the streets of 
Birmingham, England, we purchased a copy of the Daily 
Mail, and the following article attracted our attention at 
once. It is evidently written by some one who is well posted 
in the doings of the lower order of the fancy. To those of 
our readers who can understand the terms used, it will, no 
doubt, prove interesting and amusing. — Ed.] 
The “bird fancier” is only to be found and heard of in 
“shy” neighborhoods. The public houses and “cages” 
frequented by the admirers of pigeons, parrots, and cage 
birds in general, lie in strange and unfrequented quarters 
of this town of ours, and require much ferreting out. The 
proprietors of “cages” ( i . e., bird shops), though dealing 
principally in birds, keep a sharp look-out for cheap and 
likely “tan terriers,” or “toys;” they will also buy (as a 
speculation) rats, ferrets, a basket of tortoises, white mice, 
squirrels, &c. ; anything, in fact, eligible for sale, and likely 
to bring in that oft-quoted coin, “ the honest penny.” The 
varieties of pigeons, as named in poultry books, will be 
familiar to many of our readers ; there are Antwerps, Tum- 
blers, Runts, Owls, Jacobins, Dragoons, Pouters (or “ Craw- 
pers ”), Carriers (“ warted ” up to the eyes), Fantails, with 
their tails blown over their backs (like an umbrella turned 
inside out), as though they had suffered in a gale of wind 
and could not recover their former position ; Ruff's, Magpies, 
Archangels, and ignoble Blue Rocks. But the real pigeon 
fancier speaks of the color of his birds, and his titles are 
strange and diversified. He has “ badges,” red, blue, black, 
grizzles, and oddities (birds of unequal plumage), gray 
duns, beards, chequers, odd-eyed ’uns, red rose wings, black 
white wings, bronzed winged ’uns, mottled ’uns, black sad- 
dles, red white wings, and so on ad libitum. 
The stock of pigeons is termed a “ kit,” and the fancier’s 
happiest hours are passed among his birds on the roof of 
