JUMBO’S DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND AND VOYAGE TO THE UNITED STATES.
When the English public was informed of Jumbo’s intended departure loud
protests were raised. The feeling was intense, and the people were so
earnest and determined that Jumbo should not leave England, that a
proposition was made to raise by subscription from the masses, a
sufficient sum of money to buy him from the Zoölogical Society.
Elaborate preparations were made for Jumbo’s shipment. A large box, made
of the strongest oak, and as big as a small house, was constructed for
him, to be used from the Gardens until he arrived in the United States.
It was furnished with every comfort that could appeal to Jumbo’s
luxurious tastes.
Strange to say, “his majesty” did not seem to appreciate it, for when we
invited him to enter he vigorously refused. We tried to get him in again
and again during two days, and succeeded only on the third in doing so.
We fastened him in securely, leaving only a space or hole in the top of
the front, through which he could see and flourish his trunk.
In the dawn of a fine spring morning we started on our journey to the
New World. The box was drawn by sixteen horses, and the weight was as
much as they could draw. Thousands followed Jumbo to the river-bank,
expressing their regrets at his departure. The grief of the children was
really sorrowful.
At Gravesend Jumbo held a levee, and a very fashionable one too, for a
distinguished company came on board the steamer to wish him _bon
voyage_. Among the party were Miss Burdett-Coutts, and her present
husband; also Mr. Henry Irving, the great actor, and several other
wellknown ladies and gentlemen.
One poor old lady gave me several cakes and bottles of soda water to be
given to Jumbo on the passage.
Jumbo was somewhat alarmed at first by the noise of the machinery and
the rolling of the steamship; but I was always at his side, and managed
to calm him so that he became quite a sailor when he got his sea legs
on.
We arrived at last, and Jumbo seemed to be delighted. He trumpeted out
his joy, as much as to say, “Ah! Mr. Scott, we are at last in the ‘land
of the free and the home of the brave.’” When Jumbo’s house was hoisted
on the dock ten horses were hitched to the car upon which it was placed.
Then two of his brother elephants, called “pushers,” put their immense
heads to the back of the house, and at a signal the horses commenced to
draw and the elephants to push; and after an hour’s work we arrived at
Madison Square Garden, where Jumbo was released from his narrow
quarters, and seemed so joyful at his freedom that he twined his trunk
around me in an ecstasy of delight.