Fear No Evil
Page 41
Later, she was questioned by counsel for Sheriff Ernest Lonnogan: ‘Do you know where David Jordan is?’
‘No.’
‘Would you tell us if you did?’
‘Do I have to answer a hypothetical question?’
‘No,’ said the commissioner, and counsel interrupted, ‘It is relevant to her general credibility, sir,’
‘Then I will answer, sir! And the answer is a resounding no!’
For, while Rajah was being hanged, surgeons had struggled to save David Jordan’s life.
Six weeks later he was transferred in custody to a mental hospital for psychiatric observation pending his trial. Big Charlie Buffalohorn was also there, recovering from intensive surgery.
The psychiatrists could find nothing mentally unsound with either of them, and they were finally declared fit to stand trial. But first they had the right, if they so wished, to give evidence before the Commission of Inquiry.
The lawyers assigned to them, pro Deo, advised them not to do so, but both Davey and Big Charlie insisted on behing heard, and the commission was certainly anxious to hear them. There were large crowds of people gathered in Gatlinburg on the day Davey Jordan and Charlie Buffalohorn were brought to start their evidence, including hundreds of Cherokees, many in full war paint.
Two heavily armed police cars escorted the prison truck holding Davey and Big Charlie, honking and crawling through the crowds in Gatlinburg. But they never made it to the civic center where the Commission of Inquiry was sitting. The two police vehicles were surrounded by whooping Cherokees; when the officers rolled down their windows to shout them out of the way, a tear gas cannister was thrown into each vehicle.
Thereafter it was almost child’s play. By the time the police stopped coughing and clearing their eyes, their car tires were flat, their distributor arms missing, and the prison truck was gone, hijacked, roaring through the street of Gatlinburg, heading up into the Great Smoky Mountains.
All the Cherokees had disappeared. It was impossible for the officers later to identify any of them, behind all that warpaint.
The prison truck was found abandoned up on the Newfound Gap road. Hundreds of men were pulled in to search the vast mountains for Davey Jordan and Big Charlie Buffalohorn. But all the lawmen found were hundreds and hundreds of Cherokees popping up out of the undergrowth and appearing from nowhere, with big smiles and lots of unhelpful suggestions.
Davey Jordan and Big Charlie Buffalohorn were never seen again. Some folks say they never went back into the Great Smoky Mountains, that a car was waiting for them at Newfound Gap, that they’re in Mexico now, or South America, or up there in Canada.
Dr. Elizabeth Johnson was telling the truth when she said she did not know where Davey Jordan was. She returned to her job at the Bronx Zoo, but she was very unhappy. Then, one day, she walked out of her Animal Hospital, got into her car, and she was never seen again.
Nobody knows what happened to her. It is only known, through the zoo’s switchboard operator, that she had received a long-distance call that day from a public telephone box, and that she appeared to be very excited and happy when she left. Eventually, when her apartment was searched, it appeared that she had taken only her medical bag, her knapsack and bedroll.
eighty-one
After nearly four months the Commission of Inquiry delivered its findings. These are lengthy and include the excerpt that follows.
We are greatly assisted by a number of expert witnesses, particularly by the Senior Wildlife Officer who has been conscientiously, and with great difficulty, keeping track of these animals during the time this Commission has been sitting. He has testified that, without exception, the animals have reverted successfully to nature, that they are healthy and that they pose no threat to people. While it would prove necessary to provide some shelter for the gorillas in winter, the Great Smoky Mountains, with its wide range of climates at different altitudes, provides a satisfactory environment.
On the question of human safety, we heard a great deal of evidence from people on both sides of that fence, as it were. We will give detailed reasons for all our findings presently, but wish to say now that we find the bulk of the evidence is alarmist, and based on ignorance. In short, the expert evidence, confirmed by the very thorough observations of the Senior Wildlife Officer, are that these animals are harmless if not molested. This applied equally to the grizzly bears, and to the two lions. We have heard very convincing evidence that lions and elephants in the numerous game reserves in Africa do not pose any threat to tourists, even to hikers, provided they are not molested. Nor do they come out of their reservations, which are unfenced. Lions, we are satisfied, are not natural man-eaters, and we have heard from several expert witnesses that they only hunt when hungry and, when not, walk through herds of game without causing alarm. As for the grizzly, we were impressed that hundreds of grizzlies live in the Rocky Mountain National Park without hurting anyone. Further, as the Senior Wildlife Officer pointed out, there are over six hundred black bears in the Smokies already; there appears, therefore, to be little difference in having one or two bears more.
Of course, these findings do not purport to decide the legal rights of the owners of these animals to get them back, nor the rights and wrongs of what David Jordan and Charles Buffalohorn did, nor of what Sheriff Lonnogan did: those questions are outside our terms of reference and are for other courts, and perhaps for God, to decide …’
The gorillas and chimpanzees were not allowed to remain. This is because the experts deemed it would be too cold for them in winter, and the government refused to build them a shelter, despite funds offered by the public. They were eventually recaptured. King Kong and Auntie can be seen to this day, sitting on their concrete floor under their concrete tree in the artificial light, staring with dull eyes at the people who come to look at them. Auntie gave birth to a healthy male.
The bears were allowed to remain. Of course, Smoky was no problem. There was considerable indecision about the grizzly bears; much correspondence between the Smokies and Washington. What tipped the scales in the grizzlies’ favor is that only Pooh could be traced. It was concluded that hunters had claimed Winnie, in the confused days after Operation Noah ended. This is correct. Her fur is now a much prized and admired rug in a man’s den in Tennessee, and her head is mounted on a wall. The taxidermist did an excellent job in rebuilding her eyes and snout which a shotgun blasted off.
So Pooh was allowed to stay, because he could not breed. There was considerable public pressure to release a female grizzly, but the Government ruled against that. Pooh was no problem, but why attract a problem?, the findings of the Commission and the experience of the Rockies notwithstanding. The same argument prevailed against suggestions that another female elephant be released so that breeding strains would improve: government ruled that although these animals were no problem now, a significant increase in their numbers might disturb hikers and motorists.
For quite a long time Pooh and Smoky stayed together, grubbing for food and sleeping together. Then came the mating season for black bears, and Smoky heard the call. Pooh followed, but he was not wanted. Now they never see each other. Pooh doesn’t really want the other animals any more. Now he browses alone through the wilderness. He is perfectly happy. He never goes near the hikers’ shelters along the Appalachian Trail, nor near picnic sites. Sometimes he is seen, alone on a rocky outcrop, the breeze ruffling his shaggy fur, his big nose sniffing the wind.
The elephants were allowed to remain, too. Almost two years after Operation Noah, Jamba gave birth to Rajah’s calf. It was a beautiful little female, and she weighed four hundred pounds at birth. Dumbo is now a fully grown bull, with big tusks. They are often seen in the lush areas of Cades Cove, where they are a great attraction to motorists, and in the winter they sleep in a barn there. Sometimes they cross the Newfound Gap road.
But mostly they stay along the shores of Fontana Lake, in and around the Garden of Eden. In the middle of the day they ro
ll and send up clouds of dust, blowing soil over themselves to keep their skin healthy. And in the late afternoons, when bellies are full and elephants feel frolicsome, they wade into the lake and bathe, squirting the water in rainbows over their backs, splashing and wallowing.
But Kitty and Tommy were not allowed to remain, despite the Commission of Inquiry’s finding and despite loud public outcry. This was partly because Washington disagreed with the Commission that lions are no hazard to human life, and partly because Charles Worthy insisted on recovering that much of his property. Those lions were the most spectacular aspect of The World’s Greatest Show because of the story behind them and because all normal folk are just naturally scared of lions. So the department sent in a team to capture them. It took a long time.
But when they were back in the circus, Kitty was impossible. She had tasted freedom. Frank Hunt flatly refused to work with her, and finally Charles Worthy had to donate her, with considerable publicity, to a zoo, where she can be seen to this day, pacing up and down; four paces up, blink, turn, four paces down, blink, turn; on and on. Every day for the rest of her life. She is very popular, and a great many people come to see her because of the story about her, especially on Sundays when parents take their children to the zoo to entertain them.
If you enjoyed Fear No Evil, check out these other great John Gordon Davis titles.
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About the Author
JOHN GORDON DAVIS was born in what was then Rhodesia of English parents and educated in South Africa. He became a member of the Seamen’s Union and his university vacations were spent at sea, with the Dutch whaling fleet in the Antarctic, and on British merchantmen. He took degrees in political science and law and joined the Rhodesian Civil Service. After the success of his first book, Hold My Hand I’m Dying, he left his work, by then as a barrister in Hong Kong, to write for his living. His books include Hold My Hand I’m Dying, Years of the Hungry Tiger, and Leviathan.
He now lives with his wife Rosie on a farm in southern Spain for half of every year, while the other half they spend researching future books.
Also by the Author
Hold My Hand I’m Dying
Cape of Storms
Years of the Hungry Tiger
Taller Than Trees
Leviathan
Typhoon
Fear No Evil
Seize the Reckless Wind
A Woman Involved
The Land God Made in Anger
Talk to Me Tenderly, Tell Me Lies
Roots of Outrage
NON-FICTION
Operation Rhino
Hong Kong Through the Looking Glass
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