198 BIRD-HUNTING 



As my carriage was very full, and everybody smoked 

 incessantly the thin and very rank cigars so popular 

 in the Fatherland, I was very nearly poisoned with 

 the foul atmosphere, reeking with vile tobacco and 

 bottled-up Germans. Then, either when driving 

 through Vienna, or at Budapest on my way to the 

 hotel in an open cab I must have taken a bad chill. 

 At any rate I felt so ill that I had to go straight 

 to bed, and remained there about twenty-four hours 

 before I felt equal to going to see my friends at the 

 museum and the Ornithological Bureau. 



Though I was anxious to start again as soon as 

 I could, it was impossible to escape their hospitality, 

 and we all met one day at the Zoo restaurant for a 

 friendly dinner, at which I was the guest, and after- 

 wards went over the gardens. These are not worthy 

 of Budapest. In fact, instead of the restaurant being 

 a necessary adjunct to the Zoo, this is merely a side 

 attraction of the restaurant. The animals are badly 

 housed, and not too well looked after. 



This year the chief attraction was the lion's cage, 

 where were to be seen two little lion cubs as playful 

 as kittens, and to all appearance perfectly strong 

 and healthy. There was a Lammergeier in good 

 plumage, and one or two other interesting things ; 

 but as a zoological gardens it is the worst I have 

 yet seen, even worse than at Lisbon. 



After these festivities I pushed on for Trieste and 



