A STRANGE CONVOY.

Bruce Herald, Volume v, Issue 241, 9 December 1868, Page 7

A STRANGE CONVOY.

l Mr Frank BuckJand, in " Land «nd Water," givesV 'afpbni. theauthority^of Mr Win. : Jamarch, son o£ ; the well: known animal dealer, the following account-of one of the largest consignments, of wild animals ; that ever;: arrived in Europe.,. A traveller,, M. Cassanova, went some, teu months since to Kossala, in tapper. Nubia, on the confines oor, Abyssinia,f r , Abyssinia, for. the purpose of collecting live animals. He succeeded so well in his undertaking that he got together 32 elephants, eight giraffes, 16 : buffaloes; two specimens of the' rhinoceros, one hippopotamus, -12 hyenas, four lions, four ostriches, 12rhornbills, two adjutants, one bustard, and a number of small birds. With this "Itttle lot" he started across the desert for Suakira, on the Red Sea. The elephants, giraffes,; antelopes, and ostriches, walked the whole journey, with, straps ( round. . their. necks, some in tow of camels ; all the other beasts were carried in cages lashed to camels, ,M. Casanoya having brought with niin iron bars, which were made into suitable cages on the spot, as the animals were brought injjyjthe hunters. The stoff for-the portage bf his collection was therefore very largs : it consisted of 300 Arabs, 95 camels, and 80 goats,' the latter being required to supply milk ior the hippopotamus and the and ihe two young rhinoceroses. He ha 4 also to carry a large supply of water for the other' animals.

He was six weeks on- the march from Kasgala to Suakim,.and, to add to his many caVes, 5 ia poisonous fly bit him in the temple, causing him a wound that nearly blinded him. He arrived at Suakim with most of his animals in good health, and transported them in a steamer to . Suez ;■ be lost many animals during this voyage by the heat, and his stock of elephants was-reduced to 16 ; the two largest elephants, which were nearly full grown, and had got loose from the keepers while, crossing .the, desert and escaped*. Between Suez and Alexandria five young elephants were killed by accident. At Alexandria the beasts, were put on board ship, the elephants, ostriches, &c, being hoisted on slings ; all this Was done withont any accident „, Landing at Trieste, the elephants were driven through the streets to the station, the ostriches, antelopes, &c, following the elephants wherever, they went. A journey of three days an#three nights, including stoppages brought the precious cargo to Hamburg, and the muster-roll being called M. Cassanova found that his property suffered sadly by death and accident between Nubia and Hamburg. The following is a list of the survivors :— Eleven elephants, five giraffes, six antelopes, no buffaloes, one rhinoceros, no hippopotama, twelve hyenas, no lions, seven -hornbills, two adjutants, and four ostriches. Mr Jamrach lias now two elephants and a giraffe. By far the most valuable of all the animals is the-rhi-noceros ; it is one ol the two-horned species (Rhinoceros Africanm). Though young, it is a fins healthy animal. It differs much from the Indian rhinoceros ; the lower lip is pointed to such a degree that the German keeper remarked that " he looked like a youn<s elephant that had not grown his trunk." This animal has not been seen in Europe alive since the time of the Romans. The price is Llooo.— Times.