At this word Captain Hood bowed.
“— produce of our adventurous battues in the forests of the peninsula. From one cause or another the public taste seems to have altered, and the sale price is sometimes less than what was expended on the capture! F or instance, a male ostrich is now sold but for 441. and the female for 321. A black panther found a purchaser for only 601. a Java tigress for 961. and a family of lions—father, mother, uncle, and two healthy cubs—were sold in a lump for 280l.”
“They really went for nothing,” said Banks.
“As to proboscidate animals —” resumed Van Guitt.
“Proboscidate?” said Captain Hood.
“We call by that scientific name those pachydermata which nature has furnished with a trunk.”
“Such as elephants!”
“Yes, elephants since the quaternary period. They were
