Peto the Elephant: The Alternative Version

Happier Outcomes: Salt and Pepper from the Bostock and
Wombwell menagerie
 bathing in Wales in 1888.

When Mrs Wombwell finally arrived in London, looking forward to adding a newly acquired elephant to her menagerie, she may have experienced some difficulties in extracting out of George a straightforward explanation as to why she was now in receipt of some rather large bills for an ex-elephant whose skin and bones were now in the possession of a London naturalist. Should she ever have succeeded in uncovering the details, she might have learned, not very much to her pleasure, that the sequence of unfortunate events that had unfolded in this year of 1866 seems to have proceeded as follows:

i. George fails to board an uncooperative Peto the elephant, and an irritated captain sails off and leaves George and team kicking their heels in Paris and running up expense accounts for accommodation, food and drink for a full fortnight.
ii. George’s team, having then hired twelve horses and had a custom-made cage constructed, succeed in driving the cage into a hole in the road, upturning Peto the elephant, smashing the cage, and immediately having to pay premium price for a replacement to be hastily assembled.
iii. Nobody having thought to assess the space available on deck for the elephant, the captain now more irate than irritated, has to remove both a mast and a pump before they can set sail. More charges are no doubt added to the bill.
iv. On arriving in London. The chains supposed to lift the cage prove not to be strong enough. The cage is dropped with Peto inside and crashes through the deck of the steamer. The captain graduates from irate to incandescent.
v. His mood is not improved when George tests out Einstein’s theorem of stupidity regarding trying out the same experiment and expecting different results. The second set of chains break, and more damage is inflicted on the hapless steamer ‘Esther’.
vi. Leaving the fuming captain behind to total up his bill for damages incurred, George decides to accommodate Peto the elephant in an East London gateway. The unattended elephant lazily proceeds to pull up what is now at least a third set of chains, and gently but persistently begins to demolish the house above him. A sleeping couple are aroused from their slumbers by the sound of the floorboards beneath them being raised, and very possibly at the sight of an elephant’s trunk circling around their bed. Compensation for damage to private property and a generous pay-off to avoid further action seems likely.
vii. The elephant is marched on post haste to Cremorne Gardens. By this time the original French keeper has seen enough. The only thing in his mind is to get back to Paris, and put maximum distance between himself and George Wombwell junior. He no doubt exacts his own price for travel expenses, delays and psychological trauma.
viii. Peto then takes some limited but possibly satisfying revenge on the team by re-arranging Mr Hendy's rib cage. Hospital bills are now added to the growing list of expenses.
ix. Peto gets feverish, for which George blames Mr Smith's failure to keep the the elephant's quarters clean. George and the team remain at a loss to explain Peto's continuing foul temper. 
x. Since Peto remains uncooperative, they put him down, and sell off his skin and bones to Mr Rice, and thus complete the project assigned at a more than handsome loss.
xi. The team then settles down and awaits the arrival of Mrs Wombwell and her menagerie, and presumably work over various versions of stories that might account for their Clouseauish buffoonery, and mollify the out-of-pocket and astounded menagerie owner.

Could it just be that the Peto the elephant story remained so vividly in George's memory because it was his last great animal project, before being relegated to the back row of the menagerie band to blow into his cornet,  and be kept well, well, well away from the animals, and, particularly, elephants? 

An Unexpected Visitor Appears Through the Floorboards

It was only a decade since East London had witnessed a Bengal Tiger strolling up the Ratcliffe Road. Now, late night revellers stumbling and swaying out of the local hostelries would again be rubbing their eyes, as Peto the elephant was marched not entirely willingly towards Beth or, more likely, Bett street, probably that very same street where Charles Jamrach held court over his own supply of exotic animals. George however at this point had the more pressing concern of how to accommodate Peto: 

At night when all was quiet “Peto” was walked to Beth Street, Ratcliff Highway and lodged in a gateway – crowbars were driven into the ground and “Peto” was chained to them – he had a good bed of straw and plenty of food and was left to himself.

Leaving Peto to himself was to prove to be another error of judgement: 

However about 4 o’clock in the morning there was a great cry of “Murder” and “Police” – on myself and keepers going to the scene we found that “Peto” had amused himself by tearing down the plaster ceiling over the gateway and knocking up the floorboards where a man, his wife and family were sleeping in happy ignorance of the elephant lodger below them and of course were much frightened. 

Arrangements were then made with Mr E T Smith and “Peto” was removed to Cremorne Gardens to await the arrival of the menagerie from the north of England.

The moving of Peto to Cremorne Gardens must have brought back some memories to George though. It was from here, back in June 1855, that he had been invited to step down from his wagon and accompany the authorities to Whitecross prison to await bankruptcy proceedings. 

George's 1866 visit to Cremorne Gardens, this time in the company of Peto the elephant, must indeed have been starting to look as if it would end in a similar outcome:

Cremorne Gardens, 1864 by Phoebus Levin
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=540257

After much difficulty he was got there – a strong den was made and he was secured – the French keeper however desired to return to Paris and left. From that time “Peto” fretted and began to shew his temper and would strike with his trunk at all who went near him – several keepers experienced with elephants tried to control him but failed and one, Edward Hendy, who thought he had mastered him was struck and had his ribs broken.

One cannot help but to be curious as to whether Mrs Wombwell was ever presented with a properly itemized expenses bill for the procurement of Peto, and had the opportunity to absorb the sheer trail of destruction that George Wombwell junior seemed to leave behind him as he proceeded on his merry way. One thing seems for sure though - Peto's French keeper had seen enough of les Anglais, and, more specifically of les Wombwells.