When strangers came on board he approached them with caution, and at such a distance, as he considered consistent with his ideas of safety. To the ladies he did not evince any partiality; we had none on board by which we could judge whether a few days or weeks of their powerful fascinations would have any effect on him. The only lady who had honoured him with her notice was one who came on board from a ship we spoke at sea; he evinced, however, no partiality to the gentle sex, and would not permit her to caress him: whether it was the bonnet, which was of the calibre of 1828, or other portions of the lady’s dress, that excited his indignation, I cannot say, as the animal could not communicate his opinions; whatever the cause might have been, he was evidently not eager to become acquainted with her, but would show a disposition to bite if she attempted to caress him. As she appeared at first timid of approaching him, this show of warfare may have been occasioned by it, and in some degree have made the cunning brute keep up the feeling. I was acquainted with a lady in Ceylon, who, having been bitten by a cockatoo, always evinced great terror at the approach of one which was kept by her Ayah, or lady’s-maid, in the house: the bird appeared aware of it, for, when he saw the lady approach, he would flap his wings, elevate his crest, shriek out, and at the same time pretend to pursue her, at which she ran away quite terrified. When the poor animal lay on the bed of sickness, from dysentery, produced by the cold, there was as much inquiry after his health, by the officers and crew, as if he had been of “human form divine,” for he was a universal favourite on board; and there was much regret when he died—all his gambols and playful antics ceasing for ever. His skin, properly stuffed and preserved in its natural erect attitude, was kept to be consigned, on our arrival in England, to one of the glass-cases in the British Museum, where he was eventually deposited.[57]