This Garden, which runs close by the side of the Seine bank, is open free to the public. It is somewhat of a bewildering place to find one’s way about in. Its collection of animals is very fine, and contains two or three especially good things. There are some pretty spots in it, and plenty of trees and shade. A fine lion house of no less than twenty-two cages contains a good collection of the big cats and bears, a number of the latter coming from Tonquin. Besides these bears, there are others in old but well-built bear-pits in another part of the Garden. Again, we find a pair of hartebeests, so seldom seen in captivity.[A] Deer and antelopes, sheep and goats, are very well represented in the Jardin des Plantes.
I was busily engaged in taking photographs, when I was pounced upon by the inevitable gendarme, and was obliged to ‘box up’ in front of a large and sympathizing crowd. The elephant house contained three Indian elephants and one African, which is the largest to be found in captivity. Unfortunately, he has only stumps of tusks, and is, in consequence, not half such an imposing animal as the magnificent African elephant at Berlin. There was quite a number of zebras, including a mountain zebra with a foal, born in the Gardens, and a hybrid between a zebra and a kiang (Equus hemionus). There was a good collection of swine, including a Red River hog and an enormous European boar.
There were crowds of people in the Garden, and no wonder, for seldom is such a fine collection of animals to be seen without paying anything.
MARKHOR, JARDIN DES PLANTES, PARIS.
According to the Matin, palatial accommodation is to be provided for the animals in the Jardin des Plantes. The new premises will consist of a series of rotundas, or gigantic cages, 15 metres high, which will be reserved for the pachyderms. A laboratory of animal psychology for the study of character among the brute beasts is shortly to be opened under the direction of M. Hachet Souplet, assisted by M. Oustallet. It has also been arranged by M. Perrier, a Director of the Gardens, to give popular lectures in the amphitheatre every Sunday afternoon.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] A hartebeest has lately been added to the London Zoo.
CHAPTER II
JARDIN D’ACCLIMATATION, PARIS: DIRECTOR, M. A. PORTE