The New Noah (19 page)

When she arrived at the Festival Hall she was given a special dressing-room all to herself, which had been kept nice and warm for her arrival. She behaved very well, and at the end of the
lecture my wife carried her on to the stage. Sarah was a great success, doing all her tricks on the stage, and ended up by walking over to the table and leaning against it to scratch herself.
Afterwards she received any number of admirers in her dressing-room, and I think that her success rather went to her head, for I heard that when she got back to the zoo, the keeper could do nothing
with her for several days, as she refused to be left and cried piteously if she was alone in her cage. I think I can safely say that Sarah is the only ant-eater film-star in the world, and though
perhaps not as beautiful as some, she certainly has a lot of personality.

So our collecting trip to Paraguay and Argentina ended, but a collector has no sooner finished one trip than he starts thinking about the next one, and, as I write, I am making plans for another
expedition. It is always a difficult thing to choose your next collecting ground, for there are so many wonderful places in the world to see and so many extraordinary animals to capture that you
generally spend some weeks hesitating before you pick a spot on the map.

One thing a collector knows, however, is that wherever he goes in the world he is sure to meet a great array of fascinating little creatures which are perhaps elusive to capture and difficult to
keep. They may cause him much anxiety and sometimes a great deal of trouble, but they will always be interesting and amusing, and when he eventually returns to his own country, he will look upon
them not merely as a collection of rare specimens but more like a big family.

A MESSAGE FROM

The end of this book isn’t the end of Gerald Durrell’s story. The various experiences you have just read about gave impetus and inspiration to his lifetime crusade
to preserve the rich diversity of animal life on this planet.

Although he died in 1995, the words of Gerald Durrell in this and his other books will continue to inspire people everywhere with love and respect for what he called ‘this magical
world’. His work goes on through the untiring efforts of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Over the years many readers of Gerald Durrell’s books have been so motivated by his experiences and vision that they have wanted to continue the story for themselves by supporting the work
of his Trust. We hope that you will feel the same way today because through his books and life, Gerald Durrell set us all a challenge. ‘Animals are the great voteless and voiceless
majority,’ he wrote, ‘who can only survive with our help.’

Please don’t let your interest in conservation end when you turn this page. Write to us now and we’ll tell you how you can be part of our crusade to save animals from extinction. For
further information, or to send a donation, write to:

Or visit the website:

www.durrell.org

Bello is a digital only imprint of Pan Macmillan, established to breathe new life into previously published, classic books.

At Bello we believe in the timeless power of the imagination, of good story, narrative and entertainment and we want to use digital technology to ensure
that many more readers can enjoy these books into the future.

We publish in ebook and Print on Demand formats to bring these wonderful books to new audiences.

About Bello:

www.panmacmillan.com/imprints/bello

About the author:

www.panmacmillan.com/author/pamelahansfordjohnson

By Gerald Durrell

My Family and Other Animals

A Zoo in My Luggage

Birds, Beasts and Relatives

Garden of the Gods

The Overloaded Ark

The Talking Parcel

The Mockery Bird

The Donkey Rustlers

Catch me A Colobus

Beasts In My Belfry

The New Noah

The Drunken Forest

The Whispering Land

Rosy is My Relative

Two in the Bush

Three Singles to Adventure

The Ark’s Anniversary

Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons

Menagerie Manor

The Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium

The Bafut Beagles

Marrying off Mother and Other Stories

The Aye-Aye And I

Fillets of Plaice

Ark on the Move

Encounters with Animals

The Stationary Ark

First published in 1955 by Collins

This edition published 2012 by Bello
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world

www.panmacmillan.com/imprints/bello
www.curtisbrown.co.uk

ISBN 978-1-4472-1457-1 EPUB
ISBN 978-1-4472-1456-4 POD

Copyright © Gerald Durrell, 1955

The right of Gerald Durrell to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders of the material reproduced in this book. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publisher will be pleased
to make restitution at the earliest opportunity.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital,
optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The Macmillan Group has no responsibility for the information provided by any author websites whose address you obtain from this book (‘author websites’). The
inclusion of author website addresses in this book does not constitute an endorsement by or association with us of such sites or the content, products, advertising or other materials presented on
such sites.

This book remains true to the original in every way. Some aspects may appear out-of-date to modern-day readers. Bello makes no apology for this, as to retrospectively change
any content would be anachronistic and undermine the authenticity of the original. Bello has no responsibility for the content of the material in this book. The opinions expressed are those of the
author and do not constitute an endorsement by, or association with, us of the characterisation and content.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Visit
www.panmacmillan.com
to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find
features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.