"He went as quietly as a lamb," said Mr. Hagenbeck. "Arriving at the station, I fixed a stout rope to one of his forelegs, in case the animal should get a little nervous or excited. The elephant was just about to enter its wagon when an express train ran through the station, blowing its whistle rather loudly as it did so. This frightened the creature. He commenced to trumpet, spread out his long ears, and then, with a twist of his foot, smashed the rope as if it had been a piece of thread. Realizing he was about to bolt I jumped up and clung to one of his ears, hoping by this means to prevent the beast from dashing away and causing endless damage everywhere. "I had hardly grasped his ear, however, before he started off. I had no option then but to hang on, for if I had dropped I should probably have been trampled upon, so to the animal's ear I clung for dear life. At the bottom of the railway yard was a large iron gate. When we first came through we had closed it behind us, and I thought that this barrier, perhaps, might stop the elephant's mad career. But it did nothing of the kind. The brute simply charged it full force with his head, without in the least slackening speed, and the stout gate was smashed, portions of the iron bars being hurled a great distance. [Illustration: THE MONARCH OF THE FOREST IN AN UNUSUAL POSE. _From a Photograph._ ] [Illustration: A GENERAL VIEW OF THE ZEBRA STOCKADE, ERECTED TO HOLD NEWLY-CAPTURED SPECIMENS. _From a Photograph._] ] "Out into the busy streets of Hamburg bolted the elephant, trumpeting madly and frightening both horses and pedestrians as he rushed along. Past electric trams and carriages he dashed, with me still dangling from one of his ears. He went straight back to the depôt, the same way as he had come--by a road which he had never travelled before. When he arrived at the depôt the iron gate there was closed, but this was quickly broken down and the creature dashed into his stable. Entering the latter, he stood still for a second or two, and then jumped on to the platform where he had been in the habit of standing and commenced eating hay as if nothing had happened!" Here is an interesting instance of the famous dealer's enterprise. When the Russian traveller, Prjevalsky, startled the zoological world a few years ago by the announcement that he had seen in the deserts of Sungaria, in Central Asia, a new species of wild horse, Mr. Hagenbeck decided to secure some specimens, and an expedition was at once organized. His travellers penetrated to the northern border of the Gobi Desert, where they found themselves in the land of the Kirghiz, a tribe noted for its horses and expert horsemanship. Engaging the services of nearly two thousand Kirghiz riders, and taking with them fifty brood mares in foal, the collectors sought the desert home of the wild horse. After a series of exciting adventures the travellers succeeded in capturing fifty-two young colts of the wild horse species.