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and seemed as if he could tear his cage to pieces, in order to get close to me. Gradually, however, his violence subsided; he was amply caressed; and from that time, ate everything which was offered to him: perhaps he had suffered from sea-sickness. I indulged him twice a week with some lavender water put into a cup made of stiff paper, but never allowed him to have it when his claws were pushed forth; so that he learned to retract them at my bidding.
While we lay for weeks in the river Gaboon, he was never suffered to leave his cage, because the deck was constantly filled with black persons, to whom he always manifested a decided aversion. I have already mentioned his rage at seeing a chimpanzee and monkeys, and only secondary to this was the approach of pigs, whom he seemed to long to devour.
On the voyage to England direct, I thought he would have been starved to death; for we were boarded by pirates, who took almost all our provisions away, of course including our live stock, and if it had not been for the numerous parrots in the vessel, Saï must have met with a melancholy death. Some died daily as we came into colder climates, and he was allowed one each day. It was just enough to keep him from starving, and this sometimes made him seize it so ravenously, that he did not give himself time to pluck off the feathers; these in process of time formed a hard substance within the intestines, which made him very ill, he refused even his small portion of food, and I thought would have died; but I made some pills of calomel, butter, and flour, and put them very far down his throat, while his particular attendant, one of the cabin boys, held his jaws open. The boy slept in the cage with him all night; and the next morning, I administered a further dose, which effected his cure.
Having, after a long absence from England, no accommodation for such an inmate, we, as speedily as possible, sought a home for him. He was presented to the duchess of York, who boarded him at Exeter Change, till she he