crouching⁸ at night in hidden fastnesses, awaiting the coming of prey⁹; saw tragedies of the jungle; recalled too frequent ravages¹⁰ of human life, sometimes from hunger and again through sheer lust¹¹. I traced to authentic¹² sources long records of these acquaintances of mine found on their own playgrounds dying and dead from hunger and thirst or the shot of the hunter of sport or gain. I thought, in these reflections, of the horse in his first wild state, of the zebra and the elephant; how these had been reclaimed¹³ from truculence¹⁴ with benefit to themselves and humanity. I considered, too, the demands of modern education, the obligations of natural historians, the incalculable value of living objects for study. I knew my friends of the jungle suffered no discomforts¹⁵ with me.

My problem then resolved itself to this: Should I recommit my charges back to their own, and cease abetting¹⁶ further captures, orxvi should I continue to guard and cherish my friends, thus saving them and their weaker neighbors from the certain evils of the wilds?

Surely, I reasoned, their better welfare is assured here with me; they never hunger, thirst, suffer violent deaths, nor administer any. Incontestably they show that captivity¹⁷ is not a hardship. Feeling thus, can I conscientiously¹⁸ abandon them, where by continuing I may benefit them and others.

The result of these and like deliberations was a decision to continue the work of my forebears.

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