CHAPTER XXX
ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN, BUDA-PESTH: DIRECTOR, M. CARL SERAK
This Garden is one of the youngest in Europe. The first impulse was given to the foundation by the naturalists, Joseph Gerenday and August Rubinyi, who had returned from a visit to Vienna in 1856. In 1861 a committee was formed, shares were issued, and plans were prepared. Joseph Gerenday had brought together seventy kinds of animals, and it was found difficult to house them. In 1865 the Society was at last founded, and in 1866 the town sold the company a site, but made them pay a ground-rent for it.
The first President was Johann Xantus. On August 9, 1866, the Garden was solemnly opened to the public. Xantus resigned shortly after, and a Viennese zoologist, Fitzinger, was appointed; he in his turn resigned, and for a time the Garden did not prosper, perhaps owing partly to the many alterations in the management. Its position was so insecure that new and more sensible methods had to be thought out. Valuable aid was given in 1872 by Dr. Szabo, who had always been a zealous supporter of the Garden. He suggested that the company should be turned into a Society of Acclimatization, and that it should include foreign domestic animals as well as cultivated plants. This idea found much approbation, and the Society took up Szabo’s suggestion. M. Carl Serak was chosen Director of the Garden, and he has managed the affairs of the Garden to this day.
Until the year 1873 everything went downhill. To-day the Society possesses a capital of 180,000 gulden, and stands on a level with other similar institutions in Europe. The success of the Garden has been furthered by the help of the Archduke Joseph, for whose gracious support the Garden will always be greatly indebted. Mention should also be made of Andor Semsey, who gave the Society its beautiful aviary. Not only the Government, but also the town, help by continual subscriptions to further the interests of the Garden.
After a laborious railway journey from Moscow of three days and three nights, including fourteen hours of weary waiting at wayside stations where not a soul speaks any language but Russian, I arrived at length at Buda-Pesth.
The town possesses a shady wood of birch, horse-chestnut, and elm trees. After paying sixty filler for entrance, my camera was taken from me, which was all the more to be regretted, as it was such a beautiful day for taking photographs. The first house opposite the entrance is a very small, very stuffy, and very dark little monkey house, followed by a bird aviary, which was just the opposite—very large, very airy, and very light. Goat sheds follow, and then a good collection of deer, including wapiti (always well represented in Continental Gardens), Borneo deer (C. hippelaphus), and others. Below a ruined castle, inhabited by ravens and owls, are two cages containing striped and other hyænas. These animals always have sore places on their heads, caused by rubbing against the bars of their cage. We now come to a beautiful pair of Somali ostriches in full feather, and close by a large duck-pond—which, by the way, contained very few ducks—there was a novel flying-aviary for gulls and peacocks—rather an odd assortment, I thought. A large fishing-net was stretched from the top of a huge pole in the centre of the cage to the iron railings. The lion house, which came next, had in it no less than six lions. There was a beautiful ant bear, with its curious snout and long thin tongue, in a cage by himself, and opposite was a large water-tank containing a hippopotamus, and on one side of him were four nylgai, and on the other two leucoryx antelopes and a zebra. Next came a great number of domestic-fowl pens, followed by a really fine collection of dogs from all parts of the world—Russian wolf-hounds, Irish setters, Chinese chows, pointers, pugs, fox-terriers, great danes, Newfoundland, etc. Passing a pair of Indian elephants, we come to goats, yaks with calves, camels, llamas, zebus, and the inevitable pair of American bisons. A number of bears, including a pretty couple of baby brown bears, brings a good collection to an end. During the heat of the day the hose was turned on to several animals, which seemed to enjoy it thoroughly, with the exception, oddly enough, of the polars, which became very angry and fought savagely with one another.
There were crowds of people, and a band played during the afternoon. Bread was sold for feeding the animals, and a good many people bought some; but I do not like to see the poor brutes teased and tantalized with it. I could not help laughing when I saw a great fat man holding a piece of bread on the end of his umbrella far out of reach, as he thought, of a large brown bear. Time after time the animal tried to reach the tempting morsel without success. But, with a last prodigious effort, it grabbed both bread and umbrella with its powerful claws, and tore the latter to shreds.
In the centre of the Garden a side-show was given, consisting of singing and dancing by some natives of Africa, who called themselves ‘Atogos’; but I think from their absurdly silly dancing and quaint hair-dressing they were Dahomeyans.