The Strand Magazine, Vol. 01, No. 04 (April 1891)Various
General
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 01, No. 04 (April 1891)
Various
English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
Jamrach was an unusually powerful man--indeed, he is no weakling now,
though nearer eighty than seventy years of age--and at his scientific
grasp the tiger, half choked, let his captive fall, when a couple of
heavy blows across the eyes from a crowbar thrust into the naturalist's
hands by an attendant thoroughly cowed the great beast, who turned tail
and meekly trotted back straight into the lair prepared for him, the
door of which stood open for his reception. The little boy was without
a scratch; but, although £50 was offered his father as compensation,
Mr. Jamrach's intrepidity was rewarded by an action for £500 damages.
In the end the smaller amount first offered was awarded, and the loss
in costs was made sweeter by the judge's praise of the defendant's
prompt and courageous action. The monetary loss had already been
discounted by the arrival, in hot haste, the day after the accident,
of a showman, who gladly paid £300 for the culprit. This was no bad
speculation on his part, it was found, when he had counted up the
sixpences received all over the country for admission to see the "tiger
that had eaten a boy alive in Ratcliff-highway."
[Illustration: TACKLING THE TIGER.]
And so, with many an anecdote of his own and his father's experiences
in their peculiar business from Mr. Jamrach the younger, we go
upstairs and wander among the stock. This, of course, is ever varying
in quantity and species, but has always some interesting feature. We
are introduced to a solemn monkey, who salaams gravely three times,
and then waits to be asked to shake hands, which he does with great
ceremony. We see porcupines, black swans and antelopes, and we hear,
at the peril of never hearing anything afterwards, the noisy cranes.
There is a Sumatra civet cat, with a small, fox-like head, and a
magnificent tail; he is not cordial, and snaps an awkward-looking row
of sharp teeth at us. Just behind his little cage is a large one,
which contains a fine, tall guanaco or wild llama. The docile-looking
creature moves to and fro behind the bars, keeping his eye on us, and
pursing his mouth the while. Suddenly Mr. Jamrach says, "Look out,
he's going to spit!" and we all duck in different directions with great
celerity--only just in time. The intelligent quadruped has conceived
a prejudice against the shape of somebody's hat, or the colour of
somebody's tie, and expresses it by spitting, with much force and
precision, at the offender's face.
[Illustration: LUNCHEON.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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