"And now," said Mr. Hagenbeck, "the older animals are coming in to do
their performance."
Several attendants entered the building as he spoke; for to handle a
large number of fully grown wild animals is no light matter. The first
animals to come rushing into the arena were a number of huge German
boar-hounds--great affectionate beasts they were, too. I patted one of
them as he passed me, and he reared himself on his hind legs, threw
his forepaws round my neck, and delightedly covered my face with
kisses. Each boar-hound on entering the circle went to his own
allotted place with all the sense of a human being. A few moments
afterwards a door was thrown open, and in walked the lions and tigers.
Splendid big beasts these last were. Some looked very good-tempered,
although it is to be acknowledged that one tiger had evidently got out
of bed the wrong side, whilst a lion that had arrived comparatively
recently from Nubia evinced now and again a strong disposition to
rebel against the novel circumstances in which he found himself
placed. Three bears then walked in--a polar bear, a sloth bear, and a
black bear, the latter causing much amusement by quietly entering on
its hind legs. Then came a couple of elephants, a camel, four ponies,
several goats, and last of all a big, sleepy sheep, which seemed to be
on particularly intimate terms with one of the lions.
One of the most remarkable things that I noticed in Karl Hagenbeck's
menagerie is the marvellous unity and loving-kindness which is brought
to pass amongst his animals. They are fondling and playing with each
other the whole day long. Like the younger animals, they took their
seats upon the rickety pedestals which are provided for them. It was a
wonder to me how such huge beasts were able to balance themselves so
easily and comfortably as they did upon such small and slender
supports. One of them, however, came to grief in a most amusing
manner. The human beings were standing talking together in the middle
of the circle, when suddenly a loud crash and an indignant howl was
heard. We all turned to see what was the matter, as did also the wild
beasts themselves; one of the lions had suddenly tumbled down off his
perch, or rather the perch had fallen with him, and there he lay, more
startled than hurt, wondering what on earth had happened. It was
partly his own fault, poor dear fellow, for he had fallen asleep
whilst waiting for the performance to begin, and so lost his balance.
But his look of indignant surprise was so ludicrously human that none
of us could help laughing. However, both he and his pedestal were
speedily reinstated in their former position, and a lump of sugar soon
restored him to his usual tranquillity of spirit.
"And will the animals be arranged round the Chicago circus like this,
Mr. Hagenbeck?" said I.
"Everything will be exactly as you see it to-day," he replied.
"Perhaps, if anything, on a bigger scale."
At this moment the band struck up a stirring tune, on hearing which
the animals delightedly pricked their ears, and all became life and
animation at once!
"My animals love music," said Mr. Hagenbeck, "and they perform twice
as well with a band as they do without."
The first thing that took place was the riding round the circus on a
pony by a full-grown lion. Round and round they went. The pony
spiritedly enough; the lion, it must be confessed, looking, as wild
beasts generally do when engaged in such performances, rather a fool.
"The ponies and dogs were at first dreadfully afraid of the lions and
tigers," explained Mr. Hagenbeck, "but they soon got over it. These
two animals were the rage of all Paris when I was performing there a
year or two ago. Four ponies refused altogether, but at last we
managed to persuade this one to accomplish the trick."
"Has your brother-in-law never been hurt by any of these animals?"
"Only once," said he, "when he tried to separate a dog and a tiger
which were fighting, and the dog bit him. The dogs are frequently very
plucky, and sometimes attack the lions."
The next feature in the programme was that a tiger should ride round
the circus on a tricycle. A man rolled in the tricycle, the tiger was
called by name to come down from his perch, which he did slowly and
unwillingly enough. "For," said Mr. Hagenbeck, "he always hates this
ride of his." Then the tiger sullenly mounted the tricycle exactly as
is shown in the picture, growling frequently the whole time; two of
the boar-hounds walked behind as footmen, the band struck up a slow
tune, the tiger set the tricycle in motion, and slowly and solemnly
enough the little procession passed round the circus. "Now," said the
chief trainer, "I'll show you how a tiger can roll a ball along,
standing upon it the whole time." Some trestles were brought in,
placed at equal distances from each other, and a long plank was laid
across them, and then there was placed upon it a huge wooden ball.
"Come on, Caesar," cried Mr. Mellermann, "it's your turn now." To our
surprise a beautiful lion jumped down from his pedestal and ran gayly
up to Mr. Mellermann. "No, no, no, you dear old stupid," said the
trainer, leading him back to his perch; "I want Caesar, not you." But
all our persuasion couldn't get Caesar the tiger to come down, so Mr.
Mellermann went boldly up to him and gently flicked him with his whip.
Caesar got slowly down, snarling and growling the whole time. "Come on,
then, there's a good fellow," said Mr. Mellermann, and after a while
Caesar was persuaded to balance himself on the ball which he rolled
slowly along the plank. Having done it once or twice forwards and
backwards, he was allowed to return to his seat, which he did with
great joy and satisfaction. Mr. Mellermann then went up to him, told
him he had been a good fellow, and gave him a special bit of meat all
to himself. "I always do that," said he, coming back to where I was
standing, "when an animal has shown any unwillingness to perform his
tricks, for there is nothing that encourages them like kindness."
"Which animals show the most intelligence?" said I.
"Well," replied Mr. Mellermann, "I don't think there is much
difference between them. Lions and tigers, males and females, are
equally clever; and," continued Mr. Mellermann, "I think it is all
rubbish to say that tigers are not as affectionate or as easily tamed
as lions. Why, look here," he continued, going up to a splendid Royal
Bengal tiger which greeted him with a most extravagant affection as he
threw his arms round the creature's neck and drew the great head down
on a level with his own, "you couldn't get a more affectionate beast
than this is, I am sure."
On this particular morning the animals seemed to be a little flighty,
which Karl Hagenbeck explained to me was owing to the fact that the
young animals were so close by, and the old ones wanted to play with
them. Next, one of the bears was led forth to walk on the tight rope,
this appliance really being a long narrow plank. Very cleverly he
balanced himself on his hind legs, and walked, first forwards and then
backwards, with wonderful skill and ease. The trainer walked beside
him, encouraging him now and again with the words, "Steady, John,
steady," treating him, indeed, exactly as he would treat a boy at
school. In the middle of his performance a loud snarling and growling
was suddenly heard; a tiger and a leopard had begun quarrelling, and,
as the leopard had been behaving very badly the whole morning, and
distracting the attention of the school, he was sent back to his den
in disgrace. Meanwhile the bear retired to his pedestal and sat down
upon it with a graceful and self-satisfied air. "That bear very much
pleased the Emperor of Austria and the King of Bavaria when they came
here some years ago," said Mr. Hagenbeck, and then he took a beautiful
silver cigar-case out of his pocket, from which he offered me a very
fine weed. This cigar-case, he told me, had been given him on that
memorable occasion by the King of Bavaria himself.
Then a see-saw was constructed in the middle of the circus, upon one
end of which stood a lion, and upon the other end of which stood a
tiger. A bear standing in the middle preserved the peace between them.
Two leopards stood on guard on either side, and then the bear set the
see-saw in motion by walking alternately from one side to the other.
Then took place a curious and amusing performance. Four lions and
tigers were arranged in a row at an equal distance from one another.
Some of the German boar-hounds were let loose, and one after another
they gayly started a game of leap-frog with the wild beasts, who
seemed to enjoy it to the full as much as they did. After they had
finished their performance, some enormous double ladders were brought
in. The great Polar bear was persuaded to take his place at the very
top; next to him on either side, on the next rung of the ladder, was a
beautiful boar-hound; then came two royal Bengal tigers, and then a
couple of the finest lions I ever saw. Round about the base of the
pyramid were grouped, in picturesque profusion, lions, tigers,
leopards, and dogs. There they stood perfectly still, and uttering not
a single sound, until, very suddenly, Mr. Mellermann cracked his
whip, when the animals joyfully quitted their strained positions and
retired to their seats. "Ah!" said Mr. Hagenbeck, as he turned to me,
"no living human being can imagine what it means to get those animals
to do that. It makes a man old and sick and nervous before his time.
I'll never do it again after the Chicago Exhibition. Life is too short
for such a strain. I wouldn't take any money for those animals now
that they are trained, although I was offered only the other day
upwards of sixty thousand dollars for them."
And now came the _piece de resistance_ of the whole affair. A large
Roman chariot was rolled into the circus; two huge tigers were led
forth, and, growling much, they were harnessed to it; and then there
was ushered into the chariot, with no little state, a noble and
stately lion. A robe of royal crimson was fastened round his neck, a
gleaming crown was placed upon his head, the reins were thrown upon
his shoulders, two boar-hounds took their position as footmen in the
rear of the chariot, Mr. Mellermann cracked his whip, and the royal
chariot drawn by the tigers rolled solemnly round the circus. After
this a curious thing occurred. The entertainment was at an end, the
band quitted the building, and the animals were allowed to play about,
all jumbled up together. They seemed perfectly happy, gambolling with
pure pleasure round Mr. Mellermann and his assistants, between whom
and the animals the strongest affection most evidently exists. After
they had played about for a few minutes, the order was given that they
should retire to their cells, which they did by devious ways and
by-paths, the last glimpse I caught of them being that of a tiger
playfully sparring with a tawny African lion.